82-year-old murderer jailed for life

An 82-year-old man who murdered his wife and killed two neighbours by rigging a gas explosion is likely to die behind bars after a judge yesterday jailed him for life.

'This is a real tragedy and I am sure when the defendant looks back he wishes he had not cut the gas hoses,' Mr Justice Louis Tong Po-sun said in sentencing Chan Kuk-sun.

'Whatever has happened, I hope his family members do not give up on him and let him spent the rest of his life isolated.'

A Court of First Instance jury convicted Chan, 82, of the murder of his wife, Siu Yee-yau, 78, and of the manslaughter of neighbours Ngan Hau-lan, 74, and Sze Chui-ngor, 50. He had been cleared of murdering the two neighbours.

The court had heard Chan engineered the explosion in the family flat to seek revenge against his son, Chan Wai-lun. He cut the hose to a gas cooker and tampered with the front-door grille so his son's keys would not work.

He told police he intended the gas to ignite when his son pressed the door bell, causing an electrical spark. He said he had wanted to teach his 43-year-old son a lesson after he banned him from eating with the family for beating his grandson.