Hong Kong man jailed after attempting to burn his landlord to death in subdivided flat fire
Court hears 63-year-old man, who feared he would be evicted, blocked only exit from flat with an iron bar and splashed oil on floor to try to prevent occupants from being able to escape burning home
A man living in a subdivided flat, who attempted to burn his “contemptuous” landlord to death after he thought he would be evicted, was sentenced to four years and eight months in jail by a Hong Kong court on Friday.
Kwan Chor-leung, 63, had long been upset with his landlord’s attitude towards him for having to rely on social assistance and being “a lonely man with nothing to do”, his lawyer told the High Court on Friday.
The prosecutor said the case began with a clash on the night of February 5, 2017, when the landlord chided the accused for his personal hygiene and asked him to take a shower, causing Kwan to become upset.
Kwan set fire to his room in Vigor Industrial Building in Kwai Chung while the landlord and another tenant were asleep.
He secured the flat gate with an iron bar from the outside as he escaped, and splashed peanut oil on the floor to prevent them from giving chase.
Both the landlord Wong Wah-chi, 72, and the other tenant Chen Zhijun, 54, made it out alive after fire services quickly arrived at the scene. Kwan was charged with two counts of arson with an intent to endanger life.