Killer gets 20 years cut from jail time

A retired watchman jailed for life after hacking another pensioner to death had his minimum jail term reduced by 20 years yesterday.

The Court of Appeal cut Hui Mak-kwan's term to 10 years.

Mr Justice Michael Stuart-Moore said Mrs Justice Verina Bokhary overstepped the mark when she set a minimum term of 30 years to reflect the danger Hui, 79, represented to society.

Mr Justice Stuart-Moore said that under the law, the Long Term Prison Sentence Review Board had to review cases to decide whether a convicted person could be released after completing a minimum term.

In this case, the judge had to state a minimum term at the time of sentencing as she used her discretion to impose a life sentence on the count manslaughter.

He said it was Mrs Justice Bokhary's job to ensure Hui would stay behind bars. The sentence she imposed meant he would have been 108 before the board could review the case.

At the time of sentencing, Mrs Justice Bokhary said she feared for the public's safety after medical reports found Hui suffered from violent outbursts and could not be cured through counselling.