Why isn't this attempted murder?

It's been a while since I posted something in the Not Cool category so I guess its time to correct that. I read this article today in The Standard (a free english language newspaper in HK which is very good as it contains a lot of local news).

The short version is that the grandson of a tycoon stole money from his grandmother by conning her out of her insurance payments (he told her he made the insurance payments on her behalf and then got her to pay that money to him instead of to the insurance company). When the grandmother wanted to terminate one of her policies and get the money out, he drove her to a carpark and then beat her with an iron bar and tried to strangle her. Luckily, the grandmother managed to break free and was effectively saved by a couple of people passing by.

The article says that the grandson admitted one count of wounding and six counts of theft. The case is currently adjourned for sentencing so I have no idea what the punishment will be. However, from the article, it sounds like the grandson is only considered as guilty of wounding and theft and I guess that any punishment will be on that basis.

What I don't understand is why this wasn't considered an attempted murder case. From the article, it doesn't appear as if any of the facts are in question. If that's the case, then it sounds as if the grandson deliberately, and with premeditation, tried to kill the grandmother (I mean, he hit her with a 30 centimeter iron bar and tried to strangle her!). Granted - the premeditation may only have occured at the time the grandmother told him that she wanted to terminate one of her policies (which happened in 2007) but considering that the attack occurred in August 2008, it seems like he had plenty of time to plan the attack.

Lets just recap the key facts as I see them as based on that article (with some additional comment in brackets). He found out in 2007 that the grandmother wanted to terminate one of the policies. In August 2008 (at least a time period of 7 months afterwards), he drove her to a carpark (fewer witnesses?). He took an iron bar from the trunk (and really, how many people have iron bars in the trunk of their car on a normal basis?) and beat her with it. He also tried to strangle her (and may have succeeded if it weren't for some people passing by).

What do you think - does that sound like a premeditated murder attempt?