Abused man gets life for killing father

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TORONTO, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- A 26-year-old man who was abused by his father was given a life sentence in Toronto Tuesday for killing his father with a crossbow in a public library.

At his sentencing hearing after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in July, Zhou Fang was given a life sentence with no parole eligibility for 10 years, the Globe and Mail reported.

The court heard of 11 years of documented abuses by his 52-year-old father, Si Cheng, both in their native China and when they arrived in Canada, CTV News said.

The abuses against Fang and his mother included having urine dumped on them, watching as the father beheaded a pet bird and later cut the tongue out of a pet rabbit, the Globe said.

Fang's mother was also beaten so badly once, she was blinded for days, court heard.

He was originally charged with first-degree murder, but prosecutors took his history into account and noted he made no attempt to escape the day he killed his father.

On Dec. 2, 2010, Fang followed his father into an east-end Toronto library and shot him with a steel crossbow arrow. He then repeatedly smashed the man's head in with a hammer, the court heard.