A trainee nurse accused of shooting a love rival monitored a woman's social life by buying her a mobile phone and diverting her incoming calls to him, a court heard yesterday. Milky Lau Tat-keung, 25, is accused of shooting his rival in the face after failing to win the woman's heart with gifts and money. Diane Ng Man-wai, 23, testified that Lau, a former colleague, bought her a $6,680 mobile phone and then secretly programmed it so he would get all her calls. 'Perhaps he wanted to know which friends of mine were trying to contact me,' she told the Court of First Instance. Lau also promised her a monthly allowance and deposited $3,000 in her bank account. Ms Ng's first gift from the love-struck trainee arrived in June last year - a bottle filled with stars that Lau had made from straws, the court heard. 'There was a piece of paper stuck on [the bottle] with words to the effect that he wanted to be a friend of mine,' Ms Ng said. 'But I felt he wanted to chase after me.' She phoned Lau and told him she already had a long-term boyfriend. Lau reassured her they could be ordinary friends, but the gifts kept coming, the court heard. In addition to the money and mobile phone, he was said to have bought her a cordless phone and stationery. Then came another, bigger bottle of stars. But the offerings failed to win her away from boyfriend Lo Fong-ping, 26. On November 18, Lau, said to be a weapons enthusiast with his own arsenal, waited outside his rival's Kowloon flat armed with a stun gun and a conventional gun, the court heard. When Mr Lo emerged to go to work, Lau shot him in the face, it was alleged. Lau denies possessing arms and ammunition without a licence and shooting with intent.The trial continues before Deputy Judge Colin Jackson.
