A previously convicted criminal, who was most recently sentenced to 13 years in jail for stealing more than 100 grams of gold from a Yuyuan Garden shop earlier this year, lost his appeal to the Shanghai No.2 Intermediate People’s Court Wednesday.
Shi Jingba was caught stealing nearly 50,000 yuan ($7,581) worth of jewelry from the gold shop in January, seven months after he was released from jail on a prior conviction for robbery, the court said.
He went into the shop and pretended that he wanted to buy some gold jewelry. He asked the shop assistance if he could try a gold necklace and bracelet, and then ran out of the store.
Local police caught him six days later in Beicai town of Pudong New Area.
Shi said that he made the appeal because he thought that his sentence was too tough for his crime, but the court upheld the orginal ruling Wednesday, saying that his criminal record and the high value of the stolen merchandise was enough to warrant keeping his sentence in place.
Global Times