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But defendant did not have abnormal state of mind, psychiatrist tells court

A man alleged to have sacrificed two schoolgirls in a black-magic ritual was suffering from a mild  depressive illness at the time, a psychiatrist told a court yesterday.

Chow Lok-yee told a  Court of First Instance jury that Duong Vinh Cuong, 39, developed the illness when his wife, Fan Lau-shan, 23, walked out on him and their three children on December 1, 2002.

Duong has denied murdering Chan Lok-man, 11, and Yim Pui-shan, 10, in December 2002. He also denies the attempted murder of his three children on December 20, 2002.

The prosecution said Duong killed the two girls during a black-magic ritual aimed at creating  vicious ghosts to wreak vengeance on his estranged wife.

But in a report submitted to the court, Dr Chow said Duong did not suffer from an abnormal state of mind that would have substantially impaired his judgment.

The diagnosis of depression was dismissed by Lui Sing-heung, a consultant psychiatrist at Siu Lam  Psychiatric Centre, who prepared a report for the prosecution after six consultations. He told the court Duong was intelligent and did not have depression or any other mental illnesses.

When asked why he did not agree with Dr Chow's findings, Dr Lui said he would have expected Duong to be unable to eat or sleep and be in a bad mood after his wife left him.

'[The symptoms] would not  indicate a depressive illness because we are talking about a person reacting to adverse circumstances,' he said.

'Human beings are marked by emotions - happiness, sadness, anxiety, anger, jealousy. These are all normal human emotions.'

When asked by Mr Justice Thomas Gall whether a man who kills two girls and then ties his three young children to a gas cylinder could be sane, Dr Lui replied:  'Human nature is really too complex a thing.

'People can do these things and be perfectly sane. There are reasons why a person can do such things: anger, hatred, wanting to take  revenge.'

During cross-examination by prosecutor Arthur Luk SC,  Dr  Chow admitted there were inconsistencies between what the defendant had told him and what he said in court.

In consultations on January 20 and February 3, Dr Chow said  Duong told him that his wife left after he kicked her, but did not say that he also threatened her with a chopper.

Asked about the killing of Lok-man, Duong told him that the 11-year-old did nothing to provoke him and that he just 'suddenly felt very angry' before strangling her.

But in the witness box  this week, Duong told the jury that he killed Lok-man after she tried to blackmail him.

The trial continues on Monday with closing statements.



Schoolgirls' alleged killer was 'mildly depressed'