In Brief

ambulance driver gets life for killing wife

An ambulance driver who drugged and strangled his wife in pursuit of a $1.1 million insurance payout was jailed for life yesterday after being found guilty of murder. Leung Wing-sing, 46, was found guilty in the Court of First Instance of murdering Lau Siu-han on the morning of September 30, 2003. Leung had given his wife four sleeping tablets the night before and had strangled her while she slept. She was found with a towel around her neck. Leung sobbed as the jury returned its unanimous verdict and Madam Justice Clare-Marie Beeson sentenced him to life behind bars.

woman hacked to death over sacking, court told

A former security guard at a Kornhill building hacked 30-year-old Korean Moon Hye-ah to death with a watermelon knife because her complaints had led to his sacking, the Court of First Instance heard. Fung Pak-cheung pleaded not guilty to murdering the woman in the building on October 19, 2000. Fung, 36, who was dismissed earlier that month, was alleged to have gained entry to the victim's fourth-floor flat by donning his old uniform, which he had not returned to his employer, and asking to use the toilet. The trial continues today.

Department concedes some deaths escape it

The Social Welfare Department may not immediately know if recipients of benefits who had moved to the mainland were still alive, it conceded. But it stressed that random checks were conducted regularly to avoid paying social security benefits to the dead, although there was no specification on how frequent they were.

two businessmen deny counterfeit charges

Visiting business partners Australian Raymond Bennell, 69, and American Willie Pangolibay, 60, pleaded not guilty in the District Court to passing and possessing counterfeit notes last May at a bank in Central.

dirty diesel trucks to be gone in five years

About 18,700 old diesel trucks, which account for about 60 per cent of the pollution from the city's 500,000 vehicles, will be phased out over five years, an environment official said.