A 15-year-old girl told a jury yesterday she and her accomplices never planned to kill a nightclub hostess, and that she would have walked away if they had.
The accomplice-turned-prosecution witness at one stage told police that Fan Man-yee, 23, had owed $20,000 to Chan Man-lok as payment for the drug 'ice', the court heard. But the witness told the Court of First Instance yesterday that she could not remember saying that, as she was confused.
Chan, 34, Leung Shing-cho, 27, and Leung Wai-lun, 20, have denied murdering Fan, but admit preventing her lawful burial. Leung Shing-cho also denies a charge of false imprisonment, to which his co-accused have confessed.
Barrister Ian Polson, for Leung Shing-cho, suggested to the witness that Chan - who he said made a living by selling drugs, loan-sharking and occasionally managing prostitutes - was in control of the incident. Fan was working for the drug dealer and stole the money from him, the lawyer said.
But the witness said she only knew Fan had owed Chan money. She agreed that Chan ordered the other two to bring Fan to him and keep her prisoner in a Granville Road flat, in Tsim Sha Tsui, on March 17 1999. Fan was detained for almost a month and tortured to death, the court has heard.
Mr Polson asked if there had ever been any plan to kill Fan. The witness told him there had not, and that she would have walked away if there had been.