Hong Kong man sentenced to life in prison after murdering father for HK$200,000 to pay off loan sharks

Insurance agent Lai Kan-yau stabbed his father six times in the neck before taking the money he had been refused out of the older man’s bank account

The 29-year-old subsequently dumped the body at sea and fled to Taiwan; he would later tell police the stabbing was ‘accidental’

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A hooded Lai Kan-yau is escorted by police to the crime scene to help gather evidence. Photo: Edward Wong

Published: 1:04pm, 5 Aug 2021Updated: 10:37pm, 5 Aug 2021

A Hong Kong man has been jailed for life for committing what a judge described as “a most abominable and heinous crime” – stabbing his father to death to steal just over HK$200,000 (US$25,700) so he could repay loan sharks.

Insurance agent Lai Kan-yau, 29, was found guilty of murder by a 6-1 jury verdict last month in the death of his father, 65-year-old Lai Kam-fook.

He was also jailed for two years and three months for theft, a charge for which he had earlier pleaded guilty. That sentence will be served concurrently with the mandatory life term for murder.

The High Court previously heard that Lai killed his father on or around December 4, 2018, by stabbing the older man six times in the neck after he was refused money he needed to repay debts to loan sharks. He then dumped the body at sea and fled to Taiwan.

General view of The High Court in Admiralty. Photo: Warton Li

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 murder.

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