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SCMP Reporter

Constable died within three minutes of first shot, pathologist tells court

Three shots were fired at constable Leung Shing-yan's head during the attack in 2001, causing his brain tissues to 'pulpify' into a state resembling fruit jam, the coroner's court heard yesterday.

The policeman had probably died within three minutes after receiving a point-blank shot to his skull, pathologist Nam Wai-man told the inquest.

The pathologist, who performed an autopsy on Leung after he was found dead in a corridor of Shek To House in Shek Wai Kok Estate, said three bullet wounds had been found in Leung's head, one in his left shoulder and one in his back.

He said the three close-range shots to the head had created substantial damage to his brain and two of the bullets might have collided and broken  into tiny pieces in his skull.

'The brain resembled fruit jam when we examined the deceased's skull,' Dr Nam said. 'Each of the three shots was itself a 'forceful blow' to the brain that seriously damaged it.'

Yesterday's inquest  heard  evidence from  the investigation into  Leung's death.

From today, it will concentrate on the killing of security guard Zafar Iqbal Khan and, after that, the deaths of constable Tsui Po-ko and Tsang Kwok-hang in a Tsim Sha Tsui underpass.

Dr Nam said Leung might have been forced to kneel before a shot was fired into the top of the left side of his head.

'Otherwise, it would have been impossible for someone to shoot at Leung's head from a vertical angle if Leung had remained standing. Leung was 1.71 metres tall,' he said.

Apart from the fatal contact shot, Leung was also shot near his left eye -  the bullet hit  his brain and  travelled through his skull, fracturing it. The lead core had remained in the skull. Another shot  was fired into the back of the left-hand side of his  head, he said.

Dr Nam said it was likely the contact shot would have been fired first because the widening of coronal suture in the skull, caused by the firing of the first bullet, had affected the movement of the other two.

Dr Nam also believed that Leung was shot in the shoulder after being shot in the back.

'The bullet striking the shoulder would normally have hit the left lung,  but in Leung's case, it did not,' he said. 'One explanation could be that the bullet fired into his back had already caused damage to his chest, causing  his left lung to shrink.'

Apart from the bullet wounds, minor bleeding and lacerations were found on the left side of Leung's neck.

When asked by coroner Michael Chan Pik-kiu if these lacerations were  an indication that Leung had been choked, Dr Nam said there should have been lacerations on both sides of the neck if he had been choked by a rope or belt.

'One possibility is  that someone used his arm  to choke Leung. The lacerations could have been caused by the sleeves on someone's jacket. If that was the case, the  person  must have been much taller than Leung, say someone at least 1.75 or 1.76 metres tall.'

The inquest continues today.



Fatal shots turned brain into 'fruit jam'