Online game addict says 'sorry' for violent attack

A computer game addict told a court yesterday he regretted attacking a woman in a desperate bid to cure his online addiction.

Zhang Zhaoyu, a 19-year-old migrant worker, attacked a female farmer in a village in Huairou district last July. He told a judge in Huairou district court that he had become addicted to computer games to the degree that he had lost hope in life.

The young farmer from Yixian county in Hebei province admitted he had attacked Feng Baohuan on July 14 last year as she collected peppers from a field. He claimed he had done so after failing to commit suicide by striking his head with a brick.