The younger brother of a Chinese man sentenced to life in prison for dodging road tolls has turned himself into police, state media reports.

Shi Junfeng said he - and not his elder brother - had put military number plates on the vehicles to evade tolls of 3.7m yuan (£350,000;$560,000).

The case caused an outcry in China, with many questioning the harsh sentence given to Shi Jianfeng.

The court in Henan province had already ordered a retrial.

Shi Jianfeng had been found guilty last week of evading the fees over a nine-month period while delivering sand and gravel in two trucks. The court ruled he had used military number plates, meaning the vehicles could avoid paying road tolls.

He was sentenced to life in prison, a fine of 2m yuan and the loss of his political rights. He also had his illegal earnings confiscated.
'Manipulated'

But last Friday, the court in Pingdingshan ordered a retrial of the case, ruling that other people may have been involved.

Court official Liu Penghua said the convicted man had claimed he was "manipulated by a relative," the Xinhua news agency reported.

On Saturday night, Shi Junfeng turned himself in to police in Yuzhou City, saying his brother, a farmer, had taken the blame for him.

It appears he had not thought his older brother would be sentenced so severely, telling police he had offered bribes to officials and had been assured he would be released quickly.

Senior police officer Wang Xucan told Xinhua that Shi Junfeng was now being questioned and would soon be transferred to Pingdingshan.

The case had generated a furious reaction online in China.

Many argued that far more lenient sentences are usually given for more serious crimes. There were also complaints that road tolls, required on most major highways, are too high for ordinary people to be able to afford.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12201059

I'm just thinking that we might have a bunch of scumbags for 'politicians' and 'representatives', but in the grand scheme of things, we're two-bit

Yes but our scumbags want to introduce road pricing or tolls.

Frankly, I'm amazed at what the motorist puts up with anyway, I increasingly think I won't/wouldn't drive on principle...

I do drive, though as I am very environmentally aware drivers do not pick up the full cost of roads. The difference is picked up by the tax payer. So drivers do get a free rider effect to some extent. Though I also see the need for tax payer funded roads because otherwise imagine online shopping if it were hampered by road tolls everywhere. I think that smaller cars (smallest 30%) should have a minimal road tax of say £30 just to keep track of ownership and not tied to insurance or MOT. Then the rest pay RFL based on size and/or milage.

What it comes down to for me is successive governments bleating on about public transport while charging the earth for both it and personal travel by motor vehicle. Both issues are about looking after their rich friends and a revenue raiser cos they know they can get away with it...

If you want a system which reduces the costs for the low paid and is progressive over all incomes the best way is to subsidise public transport, nationalise it if necessary and pay for the extra costs through income tax.

AKA people had started to give a sh1t, we had to do something!

Yes but if it gets things done then that is fine. We need the same here sometimes.

I think this was more about covering up the real issue of it not being investigated properly in the first place, and that it took so long for anyone in authority to do anything until there was a public outcry.

I also think that the sentence was regarded as very draconian.