A man has been sentenced to jail for three years after setting fire in a Beijing hospital for the sole purpose of being sent to prison.

The man surnamed Jiang had been a successful businessman but became addicted to gambling and lost everything, including his family, Beijing News reported.

Jiang had been remorseful about his life and wanted to go to jail to make up for his misdeeds, the paper said.

On April 24 he was in Xuanwu Hospital in Beijing being treated for diabetes and set fire to a stack of paper cartons. The fire was quickly put out, and Jiang was charged with arson.

By Chen Yingqun