Three men found guilty of murdering a newspaper vendor were given life sentences yesterday, but the judge said the one who plotted the attack was still at large.
Lo Hon-shing, 32, Li Cho-ming, 34, and Leung Chi-hung, 35, were convicted in the Court of First Instance of murdering Ho Wai-ha in 1999. The fourth co-accused, Lam Tse-lik, 32, who was found guilty of manslaughter instead of murder by the jury, was sentenced to 12 years.
The 40-year-old woman was found slumped in a pool of blood in front of her newsstand on Tai Po Road, Sham Shui Po, on September 22, 1999. She had severe chop wounds all over her body.
The jury reached their unanimous guilty verdicts on Sunday after three days of deliberation.
Mrs Justice Verina Bokhary yesterday said it was obvious the four men were not the ones who plotted the brutal assault.
'No one believes that the four of you made the decision to attack the victim. It must have come from another person or persons,' she told the four after sentencing.