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Gary Cheung

Won Sam-lung delivers emotional message on release, 19 years after murdering Nicola Myers and Kenneth McBride

The first of the Braemar Hill murderers to go free walked out of Stanley Prison yesterday, 19 years after their horrific crime, and issued an emotional public apology for the irreparable harm he did to the families of the two teenage victims.

His voice shaking, Won Sam-lung  declared as he walked through the prison gates: 'I know the harm I have done to them is irremediable. I just want to say sorry to them and thank them for their forgiveness.'

The brutality of the 1985 killings of Nicola Myers, 18, and Kenneth McBride, 17, stunned Hong Kong. Nicola sustained at least 500 cuts to her body. Kenneth had more than 100 injuries and had been strangled.

Mr Won, who was 16 when he was jailed, said the most unforgettable moment in his more than 18 years behind bars had been the time he learned that the families of Kenneth and Nicola had forgiven him.

'When I read it in the South China Morning Post in 1998, I couldn't believe it because it was too shocking,' he said. 'I realised that forgiveness and love was so formidable that they could change a person.

'I had nightmares in the first years after I was jailed. I no longer had that problem after the victims' families forgave me.'

In January 1998, the Post reported that Kenneth's father, Hugh McBride, had written a letter to Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa in 1997, shortly before the chief justice recommended minimum terms for Mr Won and Cheung Yau-hang,  one of the four others convicted of the crime and, like Mr Won, a juvenile when they killed Kenneth and Nicola.

At the time, the Post quoted a friend of Mr McBride's as saying the grieving father had 'learned to forgive'.

Mr Won, now 35, said he hoped to be able to apologise in person to the families of Kenneth and Nicola and to express gratitude for their forgiveness.

It is understood that Kenneth's parents have moved back to Scotland; Nicola's family migrated to Europe several years ago.

The freed killer said he would treasure the opportunity to start his life afresh now. 'I have learned how to feel grateful during my years in jail,' he said.

Mr Won, the youngest of the five men convicted of the Braemar Hill murders, was ordered released by Mr Tung on the recommendation of the Long-Term Prison Sentences Review Board, after having served two-thirds of his 27-year sentence.

Mr Won admitted taking part in the April 1985 murders of the Island School students. He was detained at Her Majesty's pleasure, and later at the Chief Executive's discretion, before being given the finite 27-year term this year.

He  served as a prosecution witness during the trial of Pang Shun-yee,  24, Tam Sze-foon,  20, and Chiu Wai-man,  25, who were convicted in January 1987 of murdering the teenagers.

Pang, Tam, and Chiu were sentenced to death. Their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment in 1989. Cheung,  who was also 16 at the time of the murders, was likewise sentenced to be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure.

Mr Won has been offered a position as a clerk at a law firm with the help of the Correctional Services Department. His elder brother, Won Sam-yeung, said the department was also helping him apply for a  public housing unit.

Mr Won  shared a dim-sum lunch in Admiralty with his brother and legislator Leung Yiu-chung,  who has helped him and other young prisoners get definite sentences. The former prisoner paid the restaurant bill with wages he had earned in jail.

His brother said Mr Won intended to visit Cheung in the near future.



Braemar killer apologises to families