Two courts in Guangzhou, capital city of south China's Guangdong Province, sentenced one person to death and 24 others in jail in separate trials Thursday in nine kidnapping-for-ransom cases.

Two courts in Guangzhou sentenced one person to death and 24 others in jail in separate trials Thursday in nine kidnapping-for-ransom cases.

In one case handed down by the Municipal Intermediate People's Court of Guangzhou involving three defendants, Hu Haiqing was given the death penalty, Zheng Qinhua 12 years in prison and another defendant surnamed Qiu 10 years in prison.

The family of the victim, who died at the hands of the defendants' violence, will receive compensation of more than 150,000 yuan (about 22,000 U.S. dollars).

In another case heard by the People's Court of Zengcheng, a suburban city of Guangzhou, defendants kidnapped and held captive for three days and nights an 11-year-old child.

The two defendants planned to blackmail the child's father. They were sentenced to 11 years and 8 years in jail and fined up to 5,000 yuan.