Hong Kong psychiatric patient jailed for manslaughter after lethal shove kills man in hospital toilet
- Cheung Chak-ming sentenced to two years in jail after pushing fellow patient, causing lethal neck injury
- Pair fought moments before fall, complaints raised with nurses’ station at psychiatric hospital
A Hong Kong man was jailed for two years on Wednesday after killing a fellow patient at a psychiatric hospital with a single push to the shoulder.
Cheung Chak-ming, 36, was found guilty earlier this month of manslaughter by a dangerous and unlawful act, by a jury’s majority verdict of 5-2, over the death of Cheng Hok-wan, 41, on November 5, 2018.
The High Court previously heard that Cheung had pushed Cheng inside a toilet at Kwai Chung Hospital, where they were both inpatients, causing the latter to bump his head against the wall, fall facedown and sustain a serious neck injury.
Cheng died a day after the fall, with the neck injury being determined as the cause of his death.
Security footage from the hospital ward showed that Cheung had pushed Cheng’s back and shoulder, swore at the man, and kicked his slippers just minutes before the incident.
Cheung took Cheng to the nurses’ station before the fatal scuffle, complaining to staff that the latter had wanted to strike him.
The court heard Cheung was also upset about Cheng getting too close and had attempted to follow him.
After making the complaint, Cheung returned to the common area, and Cheng followed him. The two men subsequently stared at each other, before Cheung grabbed Cheng’s gown and pulled him once again towards the nurses’ station.
But Cheng then took a right turn, entering the toilet with Cheung close behind.
Less than a minute later, ward staff were notified that Cheng had fallen to the ground.
Cheung was arrested on November 6, 2018, and released on bail two days later – but he was not charged until October 27 last year.
Mitigation letters revealed that Cheung grew up in a broken family and later began taking drugs under the influence of his peers, with his continued substance abuse leading to repeated admissions to a psychiatric hospital.
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The court also heard that the father of three was previously diagnosed with psychotic and antisocial personality disorders.
Before his present offence, Cheung had 12 prior convictions dating back to October 1999, which included common assault, criminal damage and possession of dangerous drugs.
Cheung’s defence counsel told the court that he had reformed after the latest incident, converting to a baptised Christian and had volunteered at a charitable organisation for inpatient gospel drug rehabilitation treatment.
In sentencing, Justice Alex Lee Wan-tang said that the present case arose from a trivial dispute, leading to a single push to Cheng’s shoulder, which in the “tragic and unfortunate circumstances” caused the man’s death.
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The judge said he was prepared to accept that Cheung could have overreacted as a result of his previous condition and medication, but found an immediate custodial sentence was still necessary owing to the defendant’s criminal history, which showed that he was no stranger to violence.
Cheung was jailed for two years after Lee sentenced him to 2½ years, with a six-month reduction in acknowledgement of his rehabilitation and the “unsatisfactory” delay in prosecution for nearly two years.
“I don’t think it’s in the public interest to impose a sentence on the defendant which may have the effect of frustrating his rehabilitation,” Lee said.
Manslaughter is punishable by life in prison.
