Three men who admitted torturing a nightclub hostess and dismembering her body after she died were last night cleared of murdering her.
But, Chan Man-lok, 34, Leung Shing-cho, 27, and Leung Wai-lun, 20, were convicted of the manslaughter of Fan Man-yee, 23. Jurors delivered the verdict in the six-week Court of First Instance trial after almost 10 hours of deliberations. Mr Justice Peter Nguyen will sentence the trio this morning.
The verdicts mean jurors were unsure the men intended to kill or cause grievous bodily harm, although they were convinced the trio caused Fan's death.
The young mother died after weeks of torture at a flat in Granville Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, where she had been kept prisoner since March 17 last year. Leung Shing-cho was also found guilty of false imprisonment, an offence his co-accused had admitted.
The trio had admitted preventing the lawful burial of Fan's corpse, which was dismembered, cooked and dumped, with the skull stuffed in a Hello Kitty doll. They spent 10 hours cutting up the body. The killing was discovered after their accomplice, a 13-year-old girl, went to police.
The cause of Fan's death is unknown because only her skull, one tooth and internal organs have been recovered.