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SCMP Reporter

A MENTALLY disturbed mother killed her baby less than four months after being released from a psychiatric hospital, the High Court heard yesterday.

  Wong Sau-kuen, 34, was repeatedly assessed by doctors and social workers after her release. Her mental condition appeared stable and there was no apparent child care problem, prosecutor Edward Brook said.

  But the woman hated her three-month-old son, Won Ho-lung, and regarded him as a nuisance, the court heard.

  She killed the child on March 5 after spending all day with him in a bedroom at the family home in Chai Wan.

  Wong pleaded guilty to infanticide.

  Mr Brook said: 'She took the quilt and covered the face of the baby and pressed on it with both hands until the baby cried no more. The defendant had pressed for some 15 to 20 minutes.'   The mother then sat crying until her husband returned home.

  'When the husband removed the quilt he found the baby,' Mr Brook said.

  'The baby's face was white and blood was noticed underneath the nostrils.'   The child was taken to hospital but attempts to revive it failed.

  Wong's elderly mother-in-law, Chan On-yee, had been at home when the killing took place. But Wong would not allow her into the bedroom, the court heard.

  Mr Brook said the defendant had fed the baby at noon and they had both fallen asleep. At about 2 pm Wong was woken up by the crying baby. It was then that she smothered the child, the court heard.

  The prosecutor said Wong had a history of psychiatric illness. She had been suffering from bipolar affective disorder since 1978, a condition which caused her moods to swing from extreme elation to extreme depression.

  The court heard Wong was compulsorily admitted to Kwai Chung Hospital on November 14 last year. She was discharged on December 12, 11 days before giving birth to Ho-lung.

  After the killing, Wong was remanded in Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre. A doctor who examined her there said she had plunged into a major depressive episode after giving birth to the child.

  The offence occurred at a time when she was feeling depressed, helpless and frustrated, Mr Brook said.

  Wong was remanded in custody by Mr Justice Wong so psychiatric and probation reports could be prepared.



Mentally ill mother killed baby