'Compassionate' Hong Kong lawyer Alexander King dies, aged 62
Prominent criminal lawyer handled many high-profile cases, including Nancy Kissel’s first “milkshake murder” trial in 2005
Alexander King
1952-2015
Prominent criminal lawyer Alexander King SC, who handled many high-profile cases including Nancy Kissel’s first “milkshake murder” trial in 2005, died on Friday at the age of 62.
King is also well-known for defending many white-collar criminal cases, such as former government building surveyor Clive Holgate’s corruption case in 1995, banker Ewan Quayle Launder’s bribery trial in 1999, and businessman Lee Ming-tee’s fraud case in 2004.
He also represented Amina Bokhary, the niece of Court of Final Appeal Judge Kemal Bokhary, who was accused of breaching a probation order in 2010.
Jailed fung shui master Peter Chan Chun-chuen also approached King to represent him in his forgery trial in 2013.
King received his legal education in New Zealand. He was admitted as a solicitor in New Zealand in 1976 and admitted as a barrister in the UK in 1978 before moving to Hong Kong in 1986. He became a senior counsel in 2005.
He once said that when he was living in London, a Chinese landlady told him he was Chinese in his former life and encouraged him to come to Hong Kong as he would start a family here.