A young waitress hailed as a heroine after fatally stabbing a Communist Party official who demanded sex walked free today after a court ruled that she acted in self-defence.

Deng Yujiao, 21, became a cause célèbre, in a case perceived widely to show a young woman having the courage to stand up to the power of the State.

The court found Ms Deng guilty of causing injury with intent but freed her without a sentence on the grounds that a “mood disorder” absolved her of criminal responsibility. She was arrested on suspicion of murder but charged later with the lesser offence of intentional assault.

Internet users welcomed news of her release. One post on the web portal sina.com read: “This is a victory for the people, a victory for justice.” Another said: “What was the evidence of guilt? She is not guilty, what she did was 100 per cent self-defence.”

Lawyers also welcomed the verdict but said that it reflected the anxiety of the authorities about the extent of popular anger rather than a sign of proper justice being served. Pu Zhiqiang, a prominent lawyer, said: “This verdict was decided at a very high level, probably by the Supreme Court.”

He told The Times: “Of course, her legal defence had an effect but the main reason was public opinion. This was a victory for public opinion. It was a compromise to find her guilty because that way the Government could save face on behalf of the official who was killed.”

Ms Deng, a waitress at a hotel in the city of Badong, said that she had been doing some washing in the laundry room of the hotel spa a few floors below a bar in which she worked when Deng Guida, a local party official, entered and demanded “special services” — a euphemism for sex.

When she refused Mr Deng — no relation — and another official tried to force her, slapping her with wads of cash and pushing her down on to a sofa, she said. The young woman pulled a fruit knife out of her bag and lashed out, stabbing Mr Deng and slightly wounding his colleague.

Ms Deng then called the police to try to save the dying man. The court said that her decision to turn herself in was another mitigating circumstance in the case.

The swift and furious response to her arrest reflected widespread public anger against government corruption and abuse of power within a system seen as favouring Communist Party cadres, government officials and the security forces.

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