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Kidnapping sentence to be appealed

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'Big Spender' gang member Wu Man has lodged an appeal against his 13-year jail term for taking part in the $600 million kidnapping of tycoon Walter Kwok Ping-sheung.

Wu's lawyer, Li Rongping, said she believed there were errors in the verdict passed down by a Guangdong court on Monday, even though there was no new evidence to present.

She said it was wrong for the judge to say Wu, 41, conspired with 'Big Spender' Cheung Tze-keung's gang to kidnap Mr Kwok of Sun Hung Kai Properties in 1997 because he did not know who he was abducting until afterwards.

Guangzhou City Intermediate People's Court jailed Wu for 13 years and confiscated his assets on Monday after rejecting the defence argument that Wu's role in the 1997 kidnapping with 'Big Spender' was minor.

Ms Li said Wu decided to lodge an appeal when she visited him on Wednesday. 'He's not very willing to lodge an appeal as he does not think it will help. But his family members are very keen to do so as they think it could mean a chance to reduce his sentence. He agreed to it in the end,' Ms Li said.

The Guangdong Province Higher People's Court will have up to 1.5 months to rule on the appeal case.

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