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SCMP Reporter

Appeal barristers say the life sentences handed down for the brutal death of a nightclub hostess are excessive

Two men jailed for killing a nightclub hostess and stuffing her skull into a Hello Kitty doll should be given a definite jail term instead of an indefinite life sentence, their counsel submitted yesterday.

The Court of Appeal was told that Chan Man-lok, 37, and Leung Wai-lun, 23, should be given a determinate term for the manslaughter of mother-of-one Fan Man-yee, 23.

Chan and Leung were jailed for life in December 2000 by Mr Justice Peter Nguyen in the Court of First Instance. The judge recommended that they serve at least 20 years before parole be considered.

They also were convicted of false imprisonment and preventing the lawful burial of Fan's body.

The two men lost an appeal against their manslaughter conviction.

Barrister Frederic Whitehouse, representing Chan, admitted that the case was extremely brutal and sensational, but he submitted that it did not fall under the kind of exceptional circumstances that would justify an indeterminate sentence.

Mr Whitehouse added there was no clear evidence to show that Chan would be likely to commit similar offences in the future.

Barrister Andrew Raffell, for Leung, said  a unique set of circumstances  led to the death of the nightclub hostess and objected to the minimum 20-year sentence.

But Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Daryl Saw SC argued that the applicants represented a prospective danger to the public for an indeterminate period.

Imposing a discretionary life sentence on Chan and Leung was wholly justified and a proper application of sentencing principles, Mr Saw said. The Court of Appeal reserved judgment.

During the trial in 2000, the court heard that Fan was tortured for a month inside a flat in Granville Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. She had drinking straws melted on to her soles and chilli oil poured on her wounds. She was strung up by the hands and left hanging for hours while being beaten with iron bars.

Fan's body was chopped up and boiled. Her skull was stuffed in a Hello Kitty mermaid and her internal organs dumped on to a canopy. The cause of death remains unknown. The killing was reported to the police by a teenage witness, who was haunted by nightmares.



'Hello Kitty' killing not exceptional, says lawyer