Bomb hoax gets Chinese man 1 year in prison

A man in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang was sentenced on Friday to one year in prison for a bomb hoax in a hospital after a dispute with doctor.

A doctor at the hospital concerned in Wenzhou city advised the man named only as Zhang to buy capsules at a local drugstore for 59,000 yuan (9,500 U.S. dollars) to treat his mother's myeloma. Zhang's mother died three days later. Zhang then took the remaining capsules to the doctor and asked him to return his money, threatening to "blow up the hospital" and "give the doctor a hard time".

On January 28, Zhang left a package in the hospital wrapped in a black garbage sack. A cleaner found the box and saw a "fuse" attached to it. The hospital reported the matter to police, who evacuated both medical staff and patients, before attempting to defuse the "bomb".

The device turned out to be nothing more than a can, a cigarette carton and some other trash. Zhang claimed his intention was just to scare the doctor.