NANCHANG, June 4 -- A man has been sentenced to death for a stabbing spree that left two children dead in east China's Jiangxi Province, a local court said on Thursday.

The Intermediate People's Court of Shangrao City handed down the death penalty to Zhang Yangxi on Wednesday after convicting him of murder.

Zhang attacked three children as they walked home from school in Yiyang County, which is administrated by Shangrao, on October 31, 2014.

An eight-year-old boy died at the scene and another child died in hospital. The third child, a six-year-old boy, suffered serious injury, according to the court.

Zhang pleaded guilty to the offences after being caught by local police on November 4.