Boy killed for 'careless' laughter, court hears
Man beat 10-year-old cousin to death and left body on a roof, prosecutor says
A 21-year-old man beat his 10-year-old cousin to death after the boy admitted laughing at his telephone conversation with a schoolgirl, the Court of First Instance heard yesterday.
Hung Ka-chun later put the body of Yeung Yu-hang into a black plastic bag and threw it onto the roof of a storehouse, prosecutor Wayne Moultrie told the court.
The boy's decomposing body was found three days later after a neighbour noticed the smell, the jury of seven heard.
Hung, a convenience store assistant, has denied a charge of murder.
Outlining the prosecution's case, Mr Moultrie said on the evening of May 1, 2002, Yu-hang was lying on a bed at their home in Ha Ling Pei village, Tung Chung, listening to Hung talking on the telephone with a schoolgirl.
Hung later confronted the boy, who admitted laughing at him out of carelessness, the court heard.
Mr Moultrie said Hung then took out a cutter and slashed at the boy's throat. When the boy recoiled, Hung lifted him off the bed and dropped him on the floor, hitting the back of his head.
Yu-hang said he would tell his mother and began to sit up. Hung pushed him back to the floor, again hitting the boy's head, the prosecutor said. The boy bled heavily on the floor. The boy was shouting and the defendant covered his mouth with his hand, the court heard. He carried the boy out of the bedroom and dropped him in the corridor. He eventually took the body to the roof and left.
Sometime later, Mr Moultrie said, the defendant returned to the roof and put the boy's body in a black plastic bag. When Yu-hang's mother returned home, the defendant said he had not seen the boy and joined her in searching for her son, the jury was told.
Mr Moultrie said the defendant later moved the bag to an adjacent rooftop and, the next morning, threw it onto the roof of a storehouse below, where a neighbour found it on May 4.
Later on the same day, Hung allegedly told the police what he had done in video-recorded interviews.
Pathologist Lau Ming-fai told the court there were two superficial cuts to the side and front of the boy's neck, but those were not fatal injuries.
Dr Lau also found fractures on the top and back of the boy's skull, and severe damage to his brain.
'They were consistent with the result of blunt-force trauma, with the involved parts having been hit by or against some hard object or surface,' Dr Lau said.
He concluded the cause of death was head injuries.
The trial continues today before Madam Justice Clare-Marie Beeson.
