Psychiatric reports ordered on Hong Kong man who tried to kill flatmate with meat cleaver in dispute over missing cigarettes
- Jobless man, 46, remanded in custody for psychiatric reports after admitting to attempted murder
- Prosecution tells High Court defendant admitted using cleaver to ‘chop victim’s head’ and emphasised he wanted to kill him
A 46-year-old Hong Kong resident on Wednesday admitted to attempted murder after he hacked at a flatmate’s head with a meat cleaver in a dispute over a missing pack of cigarettes.
Chow Wai-hung attacked Shek Ming, 65, who suffered deep cuts to his forehead and fractures to his skull, because he feared his victim would frame him over the missing cigarettes, the High Court heard.
“The defendant admitted that he had used the cleaver to chop the victim’s head,” prosecutor Gary Leung Yuk-hang said. “He emphasised that he intended to kill the victim.”
The court heard that Shek, who was homeless, had moved into the shared flat in Fanling on May 15 last year as a temporary measure and that Chow did not know him.
Chow attacked Shek as he slept in the flat’s living room just a day later and fled the scene.
Shek, who was bleeding heavily, managed to get out of the flat and onto the street, and police became involved.
Chow also called police from a nearby telephone booth and admitted he had knifed someone.
The prosecution said Chow, who was unemployed, said several times in a police interview that he had wanted to kill Shek.
“He thought Shek tried to frame him by making false accusations against him for having taken Shek’s cigarettes,” Leung said.
The court heard that Shek, who was homeless, had moved into the shared accommodation in Fanling on May 15 last year as a temporary measure and that Chow, who was assigned a room in the flat by the Social Welfare Department, did not know him.
Chow had been a resident at Mercy Grace’s Home, a government-funded residential care centre in Fanling for people with disabilities, but moved out on May 13 last year after he complained it was too noisy and uncomfortable.
The defendant moved to the flat in Po Cheong Building on Luen On Street, which already had an occupant, just before Shek was offered a temporary stay in the same place.
Shek suffered two deep horizontal chop wounds on his forehead measuring 4cm (1.4 inches) long and 2cm deep, as well as fractures to the left front of his skull. He needed 16 stitches to the wounds and spent five days in North District Hospital in Sheung Shui.
Mr Justice Albert Wong Sung-hau remanded Chow in custody and adjourned the case to November 23 for two psychiatric reports.
The reports will be used to decide if Chow is a suitable candidate for a hospital order.
Attempted murder is punishable by up to life imprisonment.
