¡¡¡¡GUANGZHOU, Oct. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- A court in this capital of south China's Guangdong Province sentenced a nuclear expert to a suspended death penalty for intentionally putting radioactive materials in the office of a business partner.

¡¡¡¡The veteran nuclear medical expert Gu Tianming had been involved in a dispute with his male business partner, surnamed Liu, while the two had been jointly managing a laser medical center in a local hospital since June 28, 1997.

¡¡¡¡The 40-year-old Gu decided to take a revenge against Liu and forged a permission paper to purchase an industrial iridium machine.

¡¡¡¡Aided by his subordinate Fang Zhenhua, Gu put iridium 192 in the ceiling of Liu's office in May 2002, causing Liu to complain of abnormal white blood cell count, loss of appetite, fatigue, dizziness and nausea.

¡¡¡¡Meanwhile, the radioactive materials, which were discovered during an inspection of Liu's office, also sickened 74 staff members in the hospital.

¡¡¡¡A pregnant medical worker, Ms Zeng, reported abnormal chromosomes while the other 73 victims suffered from fatigue, memory loss and gum bleeding.

¡¡¡¡Gu was sentenced to death with a two-year probation and Fang to 15 years in prison. Enditem