Man jailed for life after murdering schoolgirl in her family's takeaway
Wenjing Lin was only 16 years old
Last updated 15th Nov 2021
A man has been jailed for 30 years for murdering a 16 year-old schoolgitl at her family's Chinese takeaway restaurant in Ynyswen, Rhondda Cynon Taf.
Wenjing Lin - also known as Wenjing Xu - was strangled to death by 32 year-old Chun Xu on 5 March this year.
Xu killed Wenjing in revenge against his mother over a debt, and was sentenced at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court this morning.
Originally, Chun Xu claimed the killing to be manslaughter, but on 9 November a jury at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court convicted him of murder.
The 32-year-old was also found guilty of attempting to murder her stepfather, Yongquan Jiang, 38, after he lured him into a basement before viciously attacking him with two knives.
It was heard in the trial that Chun was a heavy gambler and owed the family £14,000.
Michael Jones QC, prosecuting, told the court Xu visited the takeaway armed with a kitchen knife, and an hour before the attacks had Googled "can fingerprints be destroyed by fire".
When he was later questioned by a psychologist about his fitness to be questioned by police, he said: "I didn't mean to hurt the little girl. I wanted revenge on her mother.
"She upset me on many times and didn't listen to what I say."
In December 2020, the family loaned Xu £20,000 that he said he would send back to China for them to pay a friend which had originally gave them money to start their business in the UK.
However, Xu only sent some of the money back and gambled away £14,000.