Prison escape kills chance of parole

A drug trafficker and self-proclaimed police killer who escaped from prison in Yunnan province last year has been sentenced to life with no chance of parole, according to court documents released on Monday.

Zhang Lincang, a 28-year-old former soldier, was originally sentenced to life imprisonment for transporting drugs in October 2016. He began serving his sentence at the No 1 Prison in Yunnan in January 2017.

In May, however, he fled the prison's labor site, stole a truck while its driver was unpacking its contents, and rammed through the prison fences, according to prison and police reports. Zhang abandoned the truck on a road about 2 kilometers from the prison and proceeded to escape on foot.