Grape-guzzling proves costly
( 2003-09-17 14:53) (China Daily)
The People's Prosecutor's
Office in Haidian District last Friday issued a warrant for the arrests of four
people charged with stealing 23.5 kilograms of valuable grapes, Beijing Times
reports.
On August 7, a patrolman spotted the four carrying an oddly shaped sack
outside a kindergarten.
After opening the bag, the patrolman saw the grapes, which were a new species
being developed by the Beijing Agricultural and Forestry Institute.
The grapes consumed and otherwise damaged by the four were valued at 11,000
yuan (US$1,325), an amount large enough to earn them prison sentences.
According to Tian Xiaoqiong, a law professor at the Central University for
Nationalities, as the amount of the spoils exceeds 10,000 yuan (US$1,200), the
sentences will probably fall between three to 10 years.
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