One son's big mistakes

It was 6am when fully armed police officers with sniffer dogs burst into the home of elderly couple Nie Yuxiang and Zhang Yongqing - throwing their lives into a tailspin.

The officers were targeting the couple's son, Nie Lei, a triad kingpin who was wanted for gang-related killings and other crimes.

Since that raid on June 11, 2010, in the eastern coastal city of Qingdao, Nie and Zhang - in their early 70s - say they have been harassed and tailed by police. Their bank accounts were frozen and, with Nie Lei's arrest in September that year, they were left to care for their three teenaged grandchildren.

The two retired middle-school teachers are struggling to make sense of how their son, now 45, became one of the most high-profile mainland gang leaders, and ended up with a death sentence that the parents believe is a gross injustice.

'I know he got involved in some dubious businesses before and he has upset business rivals, but I still can't picture him as a notorious gangster,' Nie's father told the South China Morning Post.

Nie Lei - whose business empire included nightclubs and game kiosks - was sentenced to death on March 20 this year by the Qingdao Intermediate People's Court for more than a dozen offences, such as running a prostitution and gambling ring, and drug trafficking. His father said Nie Lei, whom they nicknamed Lei Lei, had been a shy and quiet boy who liked to keep a low profile, and who cherished close bonds with friends.