Sentence!A man in Beijing took an electric car battery home to charge, causing a fire that killed two people and injured one.

2023Year4In the early morning of March 7, a fire broke out in a community in Fengtai District, Beijing, resulting in two deaths and one injury. The fire was caused by thermal runaway and ignition of surrounding combustibles during the charging process of the electric bicycle battery. Zhou, who took the battery home to charge, was inspected. Fang was charged with the crime of fire.Beijing Daily client reporter2024Year4On March 22, we learned from the China Judgment Documents Network that the case was sentenced in the first and second instances. The defendant Zhou was guilty of fire and was sentenced to four years and six months in prison.

The judgment document shows that the Fengtai District People’s Court found the following facts:2023Year4moon6daytwenty twoAt around 12:00, the defendant Zhou was charging the lithium battery used in his Green Energy brand electric bicycle at his home in Fengtai District on the table in the north bedroom.4moon7day4At around 12:00 a.m., the charging battery suddenly exploded and caused a fire. The fire produced a large amount of thick smoke. After the fire was extinguished, fire rescue personnel rescued the victim Guo (female, 20 years old) from Zhou’s home and corridor.88Years old), Huang (female, year of death)52years old), Chen Moumou.

According to the reporter’s understanding, the defendant Zhou lives on the first floor of a six-story residential building, not far from his home.10Meters away, there is an outdoor charging carport. Guo is a relative of the defendant Zhou, and Huang and Chen are a couple living on the sixth floor. When the fire broke out, they went downstairs to try to escape.

Guo and Huang died on the same day after resuscitation failed. Chen was diagnosed with inhalation injury (severe), multiple burns all over his body, carbon monoxide poisoning, metabolic acidosis combined with respiratory acidosis, etc.

According to the fire accident determination of the Fengtai District Fire Rescue Detachment, the fire was caused by thermal runaway during the charging process of the electric bicycle battery, which ignited surrounding combustible materials.

After the incident, the defendant Zhou took the initiative to ask others to call the fire alarm. He was summoned to the case by the police from the Criminal Investigation Detachment of Fengtai District Public Security Bureau at the scene. After arriving at the case, he truthfully confessed the above facts.

The Fengtai District People’s Court held that the defendant Zhou had a weak awareness of law and fire safety and negligently caused a fire that killed two people and injured one person. His behavior constituted the crime of fire and should be punished according to law. In view of the fact that the defendant Zhou surrendered, voluntarily pleaded guilty and accepted punishment, and obtained the understanding of the legal representative of the victim Guo, he was given a lighter punishment. Therefore, the verdict was that the defendant Zhou was guilty of the crime of fire and was sentenced to four years and six months in prison.

After the first instance verdict was pronounced, Zhou appealed on the grounds that the sentence was too harsh. The Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court held that the judgment made by the first-instance court based on the facts, nature, and circumstances of Zhou’s crime correctly applied the law, the sentence was appropriate, and the trial procedures were legal, and should be upheld.

In the end, the court made a final ruling, rejecting the appeal of the appellant Zhou and upholding the original judgment.

Beijing Daily Client