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Brian Wong

A man who stabbed his father to death and stole more than HK$200,000 (US$25,640) from him to repay loan sharks before fleeing to Taiwan faces life in prison after a Hong Kong jury convicted him of murder.
Insurance agent Lai Kan-yau, 29, had previously admitted killing 65-year-old Lai Kam-fook, but said he acted in self-defence after his father swore at him, called his wife a prostitute and attacked him.
But a High Court jury of six men and a woman rejected his claim, returning a guilty verdict of murder by 6-1 after nearly five hours of deliberation.
He will return before Mr Justice Joseph Yau Chi-lap next Thursday for sentencing on one count of murder and one of theft, to which he pleaded guilty before the trial.
Lai had admitted a lesser count of manslaughter but denied murdering his father on or about December 4, 2018.

The court heard the father’s body was found in a red, white and blue nylon travel bag floating offshore near Waterfall Bay in Pok Fu Lam, two days after the killing in a flat at a public housing estate in Tuen Mun.
By the time of the discovery, the son had withdrawn or transferred a total of HK$203,000 from the victim’s HSBC account via multiple ATMs and fled to Kaohsiung, in southern Taiwan.
Upon receiving a call from a police officer, the defendant voluntarily boarded a return flight the same day and was formally arrested at Hong Kong airport at 11pm.
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Lai explained in court he owed a HK$340,000 debt to loan sharks and had intended to commit suicide with a steak knife, which he eventually used to take his father’s life. The murder weapon was never recovered.
He said he went to his father’s flat to see him one last time and ask to borrow money. But his father swore at him and called his wife a prostitute, before slapping him and throwing a folded chair and clock at him, Lai said. He claimed he stabbed his father six times in the neck by accident.
But the prosecution found Lai’s account of the killing contrived, and argued the crime was premeditated as seen by the defendant’s effort to hide the killing, including disposing of the body at sea and conducting an extensive cleaning of the flat.

A forensic pathologist observed the deceased had no defensive injuries and questioned if there had been any verbal altercation immediately before the killing, given a fully conscious person would have reacted to the intense pain of a stabbing.
A toxicologist said alcohol and drugs for treating insomnia were found in the deceased’s blood and could have impaired his consciousness.
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Advancing mitigation in relation to the theft charge, defence counsel Ian Polson admitted that stealing from a dead person was “quite a serious offence” and there was little he could say for his client.
“He felt he was under great pressure at the time. He was in need of money,” the lawyer said. “I suggest the motivating factor requiring the father’s money was to pay back the loan shark.”
Murder is punishable by life imprisonment, while theft carries a maximum sentence of 10 years behind bars.


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Hong Kong man faces life in prison for murdering father with steak knife before stealing HK$200,000 to repay loan sharks

Police officers escort Lai Kan-yau to Waterfall Bay while investigating the murder of his father. Photo: Edward Wong

The waterfall at Waterfall Bay in Pok Fu Lam with the Residence Bel-Air estate in the background. 10APR14

Lai Kan-yau (hooded, centre), is photographed in a police van at the Eastern Law Courts in Sai Wan Ho, for the murder his father. Lai was accused of murdering his 65-year-old father Lai Kam-fuk at Po Tin Estate in Tune Mun on December 04.  10DEC18 SCMP / Winson Wong

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Hong Kong

Law and Crime


Insurance agent Lai Kan-yau, 29, admitted killing Lai Kam-fook, 65, but said he acted in self-defence
Defendant claimed father swore at him, called wife a prostitute, then slapped and threw a folded chair and clock at him



Insurance agent Lai Kan-yau, 29, admitted killing Lai Kam-fook, 65, but said he acted in self-defence after his father swore at him, called his wife a prostitute and attacked him.


Crime in Hong Kong

Crime