Three given life for Hello Kitty killing

The killers in the notorious Hello Kitty manslaughter case were beginning life sentences today for the torture-killing of a nightclub hostess.

Judge Peter Nguyen described the killing of Fan Man-yee, 23, whose body was chopped up and her skull stuffed into a Hello Kitty doll, as unparalleled in its horror.

'Never in Hong Kong in recent years has a court heard evidence of such cruelty, depravity, callousness, brutality, violence and viciousness,' he said as he sentenced Chan Man-lok, 34, Leung Shing-cho, 27, and Leung Wai-lun, 21, to the maximum possible term.

The three defendants were convicted of manslaughter, false imprisonment and preventing the lawful burial of their victim, who was tortured and abused in a weeks-long ordeal over a debt she owed ringleader Chan. Fan's cause of death remains a mystery as only the skull, a tooth and internal organs have been recovered.

The killers are considering appealing against the conviction and sentence.