Court upholds 1-year prison sentence for bank robber

Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court has upheld a lower court's decision to sentence a 28-year-old man to one year in prison for attempting to rob a bank with a pretend bomb, the court said Thursday.

The convicted man, surnamed Pang, from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, asked the intermediate court for a more lenient sentence on the grounds that he was young and impulsive, according to a court press release.

The intermediate court was unswayed. It supported the Pudong New Area People's Court's original decision, which ruled against giving Pang probation because of the potential risks that the robbery posed to the public.

Pang tried to rob the unnamed bank in Lujiazui around 2 pm on January 16. He entered the bank carrying a backpack full of bricks and a remote control for a toy car, the court said. Pang told the bank's staff that he would detonate the bomb in his backpack if they didn't give him 1 million yuan ($164,134). The bank called the police, who arrived and arrested Pang.

When police asked why he tried to rob the bank, Pang said he was an idealist who was inspired by the Occupy Wall Street protest movement, which had broken out in the US in September 2011, according to the press release.

Pang had come to Shanghai to look for a job after graduation, but was unable to find one.

A psychological examination determined that Pang didn't suffer from any mental illnesses and was fit to stand trial. Prosecutors charged him with throwing fake dangerous substances.