A Beijing court has ordered a disgraced medical professor and four hitmen he hired to beat up two science fraud busters to pay their victims a total of 2600 yuan (US$391) - a fraction of the 104,000 yuan the pair had asked for.

The Shijingshan District People's Court rejected the request of Fang Zhouzi, who asked for 4,000 yuan compensation for medical treatment and other losses, as he couldn't provide medical bills. He received 500 yuan.

The court also rejected, on the grounds of lack of evidence, the 100,000 yuan claim by Fang Xuanchang, editor of a financial journal. He was awarded 2,100 yuan.

"The figure is unreasonable," said Wang Guangqi, the attorney for Fang Zhouzi. She said the sum was less than the minimum paid to someone absent from work cooperating in a police investigation.

Fang Zhouzi, who is famous for exposing academic fraud and plagiarism, said he has not decided whether to launch an appeal, while Fang Xuanchang made no comment.

Xiao Chuanguo, the convicted professor from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, had earlier said he would follow the court's order, reported Beijing News yesterday.