Story Tools YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS

(CNN) -- A Chinese expert in nuclear medicine has been given a suspended death sentence after he was convicted of using radioactive iridium to poison a colleague, state media has reported.

Gu Tianming, who worked at a hospital in southern China's Guangdong province, forged official papers to buy the iridium which he then placed in the office of a male business partner, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Gu had apparently been involved in a dispute with the man -- a business partner named only as Liu in the report -- and decided to take revenge on him.

The two had been joint managers of a laser medical center in a Guangdong hospital.

Aided by his subordinate, Gu placed a quantity of iridium 192, a radioisotope used in medicine, in the ceiling of Liu's office.

Within days Liu was complaining of memory loss, fatigue and a loss of appetite.

He also developed bleeding gums and was found to have an abnormal white blood cell count -- all symptoms of exposure to high levels of radiation.

Before an inspection eventually uncovered the source of the poisoning, another 74 hospital staff fell ill, many of them reporting similar symptoms.

Finding Gu guilty of seeking to poison his colleague, the court sentenced him to death with a two year probation, Xinhua reported.

His subordinate, Fang Zhenhua, who helped in the purchase and placement of the iridium, was convicted by the same court and sentenced to 15 years in jail.