The five reluctant hitmen of China: group jailed over botched contract killing

Court hears job was outsourced repeatedly before fifth hitman offered to stage the death and pocket the payment

A court in southern China has sentenced six men to prison for attempted murder in a hit job that was botched after being subcontracted several times.

According to the Nanning Intermediate People's Court in Guangxi, in the autumn of 2013 a real estate businessman by the name Qin Youhui hired someone to take out a businessman surnamed Wei, who was suing Qin. But the hitman kept half of the 2m yuan ($280,000) Qin paid and outsourced the job, offering a new assailant the other half.