Stefan Mileschin

A house helper in China has been sentenced to 10 years in the clink and ordered to pay a hefty bill after stealing a mobile phone from her boss.

A court imposed the sentence of Zhang Yun after she pinched the Vertu handset - one of Nokia's luxury mobile phones.

The blinged up silver edition handset, claimed to be worth a ridiculous ($10,000) 68,000 yuan, was swiped by Ms Yun, after she claimed she wasn't paid by her employee. However, she claimed she had no idea how much the handset was worth when she took it.

"I've been working for the family for over 40 days but my employer was still delaying my payment, I got angry and decided to hide the cell phone in the kitchen so I could use it myself," she told the court.

However, she was found out when her employer found his phone missing. Zhang tried to cover her back by claiming she had not seen it, before burying it in a turnip pit, but was later rumbled when she was spotted on CCTV.

"I didn't know the cell phone was so expensive," Zhang told the court. "I don't know anything about the law and I thought the cell phone was only worth one or two thousand yuan to make up for my salary."

The ruling has kicked off a nationwide debate, with many claiming that the sentencing was too harsh. According to the China People Daily, many legal bods are now offering the 48 year old jailbird free legal support to appeal the sentence.

http://news.techeye.net/business/nok...years-porridge