Wife of jailed milk 'hero' tells of anguish

Exhausted and devastated after a heart-wrenching day outside a Beijing court on Wednesday, Li Xuemei did not want to wake her son, who suffers from kidney stones, and send him to kindergarten on a windy, chilly morning yesterday.

Li had switched off her mobile phone and gone to bed early with her two children on Wednesday, after the court convicted her husband, Zhao Lianhai , 38, of 'provoking quarrels and making trouble' for helping families seek justice for children made ill by melamine-tainted milk.

However, she reluctantly woke five-year-old son Zhao Pengrui at 7.30am because she did not want him to miss school. Her mother-in-law, Pan Xiuying , 77, came to pick him up and took him to a kindergarten while Li stayed at home, looking after her one-year-old daughter.

Pengrui is too young to understand why his father will not be coming home for 18 months. The court sentenced Zhao to 2 1/2 years in jail, but he has already served a year in detention awaiting trial. 'I miss my dad because he often takes me out to play,' he said while waiting outside the court on Wednesday.

Zhao's lawyer Peng Jian , who cried over the sentence on Wednesday, has begun a three-day hunger strike to protest against the verdict and support Zhao, who said in court that he would go on hunger strike. Li would like to join them, but has to look after her health because their children are relying on her.

'I have to look after two children,' she said. 'What Zhao and I do is all for our children.' She had tears in her eyes as she said she often felt sorry for the children, deprived of their father's love at such a young age. 'It [a father's love] is irreplaceable for children,' Li said.