Deadly drops deserve just deserts

A MAN IN JINAN, EAST CHINA'S SHANDONG PROVINCE, was sentenced to three years in prison with three years' reprieve because he intentionally threw three beer bottles out of his 10-storey window on July 17. China Daily writer Zhang Zhouxiang comments:

The incident has drawn a lot of attention with people questioning the severity of the sentence as no one was hurt by his action.

Those holding such a view probably do not realize how much harm an object falling or thrown from a high-storey building can do. Experiments have shown that even a nail falling from the 18th floor can pierce a person's skull, while a tin can dropped from the 15th floor can do the same.