Two masterminds behind a fatal chopper attack on a 40-year-old newspaper vendor were jailed for life yesterday after a jury unanimously found them guilty of murder.
Ng Sik-kei, 52, a leader in the 14K triad society, and Tsoi Wai-keung, 45, were also convicted of being triad members, for which Ng was jailed for five years and Tsoi for three.
Relatives of the pair wept in the public gallery and an emotional Ng repeatedly proclaimed his innocence in the dock as Madam Justice Clare-Marie Beeson blamed the pair for organising the killing of Ho Wai-har in 1999. 'It took a long time to bring justice,' the Court of First Instance judge said.
Outside court, Chief Inspector Ian Cowieson of the Kowloon West regional crime unit said two more suspects were still being hunted.
He admitted it had taken a long time to gather enough evidence for the charges against Ng and Tsoi, and explained that Tsoi was in Macau when Ho was hacked to death in Sham Shui Po, which had given him a strong alibi.
'Those masterminds are usually very smart. They simply hire someone to do the dirty work so they can always keep their hands clean and that makes police investigation more difficult,' Cowieson said. 'But police are determined to bring the masterminds to court, no matter how difficult it is.'
Ho's family was not in court yesterday but Cowieson said he believed they would be pleased with the verdict in the retrial, ordered after a jury panel was dismissed in November due to legal challenges from the defence.