Kindergarten teacher jailed for pricking students with needle

BEIJING - A teacher in a kindergarten school in China was sentenced to three years in prison Wednesday for pricking more than 60 children with a hypodermic needle.

A county court in Yunnan province announced its verdict after Sun Qiqi, a teacher at Xihu Kindergarten in Jianshui county, pleaded guilty to pricking 63 children, aged from three to five, with a needle attached to an empty syringe as a punishment in October last year, Xinhua news agency reported.

The assault by the teacher caused panic among children and parents in the county, the court said.

Sun was convicted of “jeopardising public safety”, a crime that leads to three to 10 years imprisonment according to the country’s laws, a court spokesman said.

Sun, meanwhile, said she had not decided whether to appeal.

All the victims had tested negative for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV in checks conducted by the local health authority, the official said.

The court, however, rejected a total of 1.8 million yuan ($264,000) compensation claim by the parents. The parents also withdrew a lawsuit against the kindergarten management.