The man who confessed to killing his father in a Toronto library with a crossbow has been sentenced.

Zhou Fang was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10-years, after he walked into the Main Street Public Library on December 2, 2010, fired a crossbow bolt into his father's back, then crushed his skull with a hammer.

Fang, now 26, was initially charged with the first-degree-murder of 52-year-old Si Cheng, but the prosecution accepted a plea of second-degree murder after considering that Fang was the subject of long-term abuse at the hands of his father.

The incident happened during the afternoon when the library was packed with children and other patrons.