The nation's most politically sensitive criminal case in a generation has ended with Gu Kailai, the wife of fallen Chongqing Communist Party chief and ambitious politician Bo Xilai, being sentenced to death with a two-year suspension. That was expected, as is the likelihood that that sentence will be commuted to life imprisonment or less. It is easy enough to make such assertions: For all the sensationalism of the case involving the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood, what has most stood out is the predictability of the trial. Nothing has taken place to counter assumptions that proceedings were tightly controlled to ensure that only the officially sanctioned narrative emerged.

Authorities promised that the trial in the Hefei intermediate court in Anhui province, hundreds of kilometres from where the crime took place, would be fair and transparent. With foreign media barred and two British diplomats being among the few outside observers, there is no way to prove otherwise. A court official said after yesterday's closed-door sentencing that Gu had avoided the death penalty because of mental impairment and Heywood's threats to her son. A statement said she told the court: "The judgment is fair. It shows special respect to the law, to reality and to life."

Family aide Zhang Xiaojun was jailed for nine years for being an accessory. Four Chongqing police officers were imprisoned for between five and 11 years for covering up the murder. The case - from Gu's seven-hour trial on August 9, to the admissions of guilt of all involved, to the verdicts - ensured there were no hitches. With the legal system politicised through judges ultimately having to answer to the party, there is no way to disprove claims it influenced the outcome.