A man in China caught driving while intoxicated convinced his family to help him fake his own burial in order to escape the legal consequences of his actions, the country’s media reported.

Police in Hunan, China, recently published the details of a bizarre case dating back to January this year.

A man known simply as Si was pulled over by a police car and subsequently arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol.

A background check revealed that he had been caught driving without a licence while intoxicated twice before, so Si risked spending time behind bars for his third offence.

While out on bail, Si decided that the risk of being issued a prison sentence was too great, so he came up with an extreme plan to avoid any legal consequences for his drunk driving.

He convinced his family to assist him in faking his death and funeral so that he could run away without the fear of police looking for him.

In June, Si and his family set their plan in motion. First, they bought a coffin and then Si set the scene of his death.

He scattered empty medicine bottles throughout his home, practised holding his breath for long periods of time, and even used cooling equipment to keep his body cold, all in an effort to make it look like he had succumbed to a drug overdose.

Even though some neighbours later told police that they had seen Si’s body, his mother and grandmother covered his face with a cloth, claiming that the drugs had deformed his face.

The funeral was carried out that same day, but while the coffin was being lowered into the ground, Si was already on his way to Yunnan Province.

The story however did not end with his fake death. There were some loose ends that police quickly picked up, like the fact that Si’s coffin had been purchased before his death and the fact that his family never called an ambulance or alerted the police about his untimely death.

Police later learnt that there had been no death certificate issued for Si nor a record of his body in any mortuary. The fact that none of the neighbours had seen his face before his burial only added to their suspicions.

Surveillance footage and bank records later confirmed that SI was still alive, and police launched a manhunt to find him.

Si was apprehended in early this month and later sentenced to five months of criminal detention and a 20,000 yuan ($3,000) fine.

A separate criminal investigation is now gathering evidence against his mother and grandmother for assisting and harbouring an offender.