TWO men who admitted responsibility for a friend's death during a goldsmith robbery were each sentenced to nine years' jail for manslaughter yesterday after a retrial. The victim was strangled by the pair's accomplice during the holdup.
Chan Chi-wah, 26, Fok Kwong-chuen, 23, and accomplice So Ho-po, were originally jointly charged with the murder of Siu Kon-keung, 25, and with robbing him of jewellery worth about $500,000 and $10,000 in cash.
They had all pleaded guilty to robbery before Mr Justice Saied in October 1990. Chan and Fok were both found guilty of murder, but So, who carried out the actual killing, was convicted of manslaughter.
So, then aged 20, was sentenced to 12 years' jail for the robbery and 15 years for the killing, to run concurrently. The other two were each given a 15-year jail term for robbery and the death sentence for murder.
Chan and Fok succeeded in having their murder conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal last September and a retrial was ordered.
They appeared before Mr Justice Bewley in the High Court this month and both pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The plea was accepted by the court.
Sentencing the pair yesterday, Mr Justice Bewley accepted they were not aware that Siu was being strangled, although they had contemplated using violence.
