A martial arts instructor in China has been jailed for six years after a seven-year-old boy fell into a coma during his class and died.

The incident took place in the city of Xinmi in Henan province in central China in October 2019, and the coach has now been sentenced on Sunday, 30th January 2022, by the Xinmi People’s Court on suspicion of causing death by negligence.

This is after the authorities allegedly at first decided there was no evidence to prove that the martial arts instructor, who has been named as Sang Xingming, age not reported, had committed a crime.

The victim has been named as Cheng Moubo, and his family sued the Public Security Bureau, leading to a first victory in March 2020, when the initial ruling was revoked.

In June 2020, a court decided that obvious trauma had been inflicted to the victim’s head, feet, and arms, but that further evidence needed to be investigated.

It was then deemed that the martial arts club, named as the Tianchen Club of Songshan Village, was illegal.

It was also determined that the instructor used a wooden ruler to punish the seven-year-old boy, who was reportedly not performing well in the classes.

The victim was allegedly beaten, causing him to fall into a coma. He later died in hospital of a subdural haematoma caused by blunt force trauma to his head.

The court ruled that Sang Xingming forced the minor to perform dangerous training actions, failed to perform his duty of care, failed to take effective protective measures, and caused death by negligence.

It is currently unclear if the defendant plans to appeal the six-year sentence.