A Chinese court has ordered a woman who locked herself away while her friend was murdered to pay 696,000 Chinese yuan (£80,000) in compensation to the victim's mother for not acting.

Liu Nuanxi was found liable in the murder of her friend Jiang Ge by a court in Qingdao after a lengthy period of public debate in China.

At the time of the 2016 murder, Liu was living with her friend Jiang in Tokyo reports VICE.

Jiang was being stalked by her aggressive ex-boyfriend Chen Shifeng during Liu’s tenure in her flat and one night the two women returned to find Chen in the property.

According to the court, Jiang and Chen began to have an argument while Liu locked the door. It was then that Chen fatally stabbed Jiang over 10 times in the neck.

Chen was convicted of murder and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment by a Tokyo judge in 2017.

However, following the trial, Liu began to be attacked for her ‘supposed ethical and legal failures’ in preventing Jiang's murder.

Things became more ignominious when Jiang’s mother, Jiang Qiulian, filed a civil lawsuit against her in China and accused her of contributing to Jiang’s murder.

The distraught mother also accused Liu of sending her aggressive messages and ‘refusing to answer questions’ about Jiang’s murder.

Jiang’s mother’s palpable grief led to widespread public condemnation of Liu in China and made her the face of a fierce national debate.

Liu repeatedly denied she had locked the doors in media interviews and broke down about the abuse aimed at her.

It mostly fell on death ears however with some Chinese social media users even stating they wished it was Jiang who had been murdered.

Today (January 10), the court ruled that Liu was liable as she did not inform Jiang about threats sent to Jiang by her ex-boyfriend and would have to pay Jiang’s mother.

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It also found that she stopped Jiang from reporting her ex-boyfriend’s harassment to the police and had left her friend in danger to protect herself.

Speaking after the verdict, Jiang’s mother said on Weibo: “Today, China’s supreme justice system finally confirmed Liu Nuanxi’s conduct.

“It was Liu Nuanxi who locked Jiang Ge’s door…I have always known the law would uphold justice for Jiang Ge.”

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