Two men appealing conviction for 2014 knife attack on former Ming Pao editor say they were mistreated by mainland and Hong Kong authorities

Lawyers for Yip Kin-wah and Wong Chi-wah, who attacked Kevin Lau Chun-to with a meat cleaver, say ‘ill-treatment’ prevented a fair trial

Appeal judges say lawyers failed to identify the specific mistreatment

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Police officers from the Identification Bureau collecting evidence at the crime scene at Tai Hong Street in Sai Wan Ho, where former Ming Pao editor-in-chief Kevin Lau Chun-to was attacked, on February 26, 2014. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Published: 7:14pm, 6 Dec 2018Updated: 8:17pm, 6 Dec 2018

Two men jailed for the “cold-blooded” knife attack on a newspaper editor-in-chief four years ago argued during their appeal on Thursday that they were mistreated at the hands of the Hong Kong and mainland authorities, which had prevented them from having a fair trial.

Lawyers for Yip Kin-wah and Wong Chi-wah, both 42, said, however, the trial judge had failed to ruled in their favour to halt the prosecution at the time, which later led to their convictions in 2015 and sentencing to 19 years in jail.

But the lawyers’ assertion quickly prompted three appeal judges to hit back on Thursday, complaining of a lack of evidence to support those claims.

The attack took place on February 26, 2014, when the two slashed former Ming Pao editor-in-chief Kevin Lau Chun-to with a meat cleaver in broad daylight before fleeing to mainland China. They were arrested there and sent back to Hong Kong for trial.

Wong Chi-wah being escorted from the High Court at his trial in July 2015. Photo: Sam Tsang