An ex-convict has been sentenced to 42 months in prison for putting his neighbors' lives in jeopardy during a suicide attempt in Yangpu district, the local court said Monday.

The defendant, surnamed Zhao, was charged with endangering public security for letting gas fill up his apartment in a residential building on Zhengmin Road, according to a press release from Yangpu District People's Court.

On the morning of January 2, one of Zhao's neighbors, surnamed Xu, called the gas company after smelling gas in the building, the court said.

 The gas company told her that the gas was leaking from Zhao's apartment. After the company determined that enough gas had leaked into the building to cause an explosion, it called in the police, who evacuated the building

Responding officers spent the next 40 minutes knocking on Zhao's door. When he opened the door, he had a cigarette hanging from his mouth and a lighter in his hand, the court said.

He slammed the door on the officers when they tried to grab the lighter.

Police broke into Zhao's home and arrested him around 4 pm.

Zhao tried to kill himself because he was having trouble adjusting after being released from prison, the court said. He had served time for theft.

The court said it gave Zhao a heavy sentence because he committed a crime within five years of being released from prison.

Global Times