‘You must die’: Hong Kong court hears details of vicious assault that left wife unconscious, covered in blood
- After attacking his wife with a kitchen knife, then cleaver, man told rescuers she had attempted to commit suicide
- The mother of two daughters has been left with permanent nerve damage to her right arm
A Hong Kong man on Monday admitted to slashing his wife first with a kitchen knife, then a cleaver in a frenzied attack that nearly killed her, only to then tell rescuers she had attempted suicide.
The High Court heard insurance agent Yiu Shung-ching, 41, attacked Leung Wing-sze a day after he was told to move out of their Sha Tin flat after asking her to sign an additional policy.
But Yiu’s defence counsel, Newman Wong Hing-wai, said the attack had nothing to do with insurance, as the policy in question was meant for their daughters, aged 9 and 11.
Wong instead said Yiu, under the influence of alcohol, had lost control after arguing with Leung over her alleged drug use.
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He added that Yiu suffered from depression, for which he had undergone treatment in 2016.
Prosecutors said Leung woke up at 1am on May 11, 2018, to find Yiu standing next to the sofa she was sleeping on, with a 29cm kitchen knife in his hand.
Without warning, he slashed her left wrist and dragged her inside the bedroom.
She begged him not to kill her and asked to see their daughters, to which Yiu replied: “No need, you must die.”
He also slashed his own wrist, telling his wife: “Don’t worry, after you die, I will also die. I have arranged.”
He then went to the kitchen, where he collected brandy and the 23.5cm cleaver he would use to continue the attack.
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Shouting for help, Leung tried to snatch the blade away, but to no avail.
At some point during the assault, she attempted to bite her husband’s back, which prompted him to bite her scalp and left ear and begin hacking at her head with the blade.
She then grabbed her mobile phone and opened a window to cry for help, only to be struck in the head three times with an unknown object.
When she regained consciousness, she was in the accident and emergency.
The court heard Yiu called the police at 3.58am and reported that someone about 40 years of age had attempted suicide by slashing her wrist.
“She is almost dead,” he told the rescuer on the phone.
Firefighters arrived at the scene to find Leung lying unconscious and naked below the waist in the bedroom. Blood covered her top and was all over the flat.
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“Help me to see if she still has breath and pulse,” Yiu said.
He then told investigators he had consumed alcohol and quarrelled with his wife, but said nothing else, even after he was arrested for wounding.
His wife was rushed to Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin, where doctors found multiple wounds to her wrist, neck and scalp.
Their neighbours later reported hearing a woman repeatedly shout for help.
Leung was discharged from hospital on June 1, with a permanent disability caused by injuries to two nerves in her left forearm.
Originally set to be tried for attempted murder, Yiu, who had no prior convictions, confessed to hurting his wife after prosecutors agreed to accept a guilty plea on an alternative count of wounding with intent, which is also punishable with life imprisonment.
Mr Justice Joseph Yau Chi-lap adjourned sentencing to April 6, pending the victim’s latest medical records and the defendant’s background report.
