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SCMP Reporter

Two men convicted of the infamous 1999 slaying have lost their final chance of having their convictions overturned

Two men jailed for life for the infamous Hello Kitty killing lost a last-ditch attempt to clear their names in the top court.

The Court of Final Appeal on Tuesday refused to overturn the manslaughter convictions of Chan Man-lok,  37, and Leung Wai-lun,  23, for the 1999 torture and killing of nightclub hostess Fan Man-yee, 23.

In December 2000 in the Court of First Instance, Chan, Leung Wai-lun and Leung Shing-cho, 29, were cleared of murdering Fan, a mother of one, but were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to life in jail.

The victim was tortured, dismembered and her skull stuffed inside a Hello Kitty doll.

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

In May, Leung Shing-cho had his manslaughter conviction overturned in the Court of Appeal because the trial judge, Mr Justice Peter Nguyen,  was found to have misdirected the jury when summing up the case, which amounted to a miscarriage of justice. He now faces a retrial on a date to be fixed.

But the other two men lost their appeal against their manslaughter convictions. In August, they lost their appeal against their life sentences.

Mr Justice Nguyen recommended that the defendants serve at least 20 years' imprisonment before parole be considered.

In the written judgment handed down yesterday, Mr Justice Kemal Bokhary,  sitting with Mr Justice Patrick Chan Siu-oi  and non-permanent judge Henry Litton,  unanimously rejected Chan  and Leung Wai-lun's final bid to challenge their manslaughter convictions.

Mr Justice Bokhary  said the Court of Appeal was entitled to take the view that although Mr Justice Nguyen had given the jury a false impression in part of his summary of the case, his 'unfortunate statement' could not have misled the jury and the irregularity should not to have been regarded as material.

The top court also dismissed Leung Wai-lun's attempt to seek permission to appeal against his sentence.

Mr Justice Bokhary said there was simply no basis for granting the application.

'It is clear that no sentencing principle has been violated. And the facts amply justify the sentences imposed,' Mr Justice Bokhary said.

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

The killing was reported to the police by a teenage witness, who was haunted by nightmares.



Appeals door shuts on Hello Kitty killers