IN BRIEF (Page 26)

Breakup attack gets man seven years

A man who choked his girlfriend and left her in a coma has been sentenced to seven years in prison for attempted murder, Beijing News reported on Monday.

The man, surnamed Zhang, attacked his girlfriend, surnamed Liu, after she told him she wanted to break up with him while they were on a date in October. Zhang dragged Liu to a nearby pit after she lost consciousness and fled the scene. His girlfriend regained consciousness a short time later and police detained Zhang that evening.