Hong Kong mother battling depression admits to manslaughter charge for strangling 21-year-old mentally disabled son
- Judge calls for probation reports and medical assessments by psychiatric and psychological professionals ahead of sentencing
- Chen Xueping, 49, texted her husband and a friend, saying she was so tired that she could no longer bear it and would take her son away
A Hong Kong housewife on Tuesday admitted to manslaughter for strangling her 21-year-old son with mental disabilities using a plastic tablecloth in September 2020, following a not-guilty plea to murder.
Mainland-born Chen Xueping, 49, had pleaded not guilty to murdering her epileptic son, Wong Fat-lun, at their home in Kwai Chung Estate before the prosecution reduced the charge to manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility.
Diminished responsibility refers to a mitigating defence in cases where a defendant is absolved of part of the liability due to conditions such as an unbalanced mental state.
“I would need to know now what her present medical condition is,” High Court judge Susana Maria D’Almada Remedios said.
“I’ll still need to know, in the past 3½ years, how she was getting on with it and if she will need any further assistance even after she’s out.”
The summary of facts showed Chen strangled Wong using a piece of red plastic tablecloth shaped like a rope with four knots at around midnight from September 4 to 5, 2020.
The killing occurred after she texted her husband and a friend on WhatsApp, saying she was so tired that she could no longer bear it and would take her son away. Chen also asked them to take care of her twins.
Chen, her husband and their twin son and daughter lived in a public housing flat in Ying Kwai House, Kwai Chung Estate. Wong moved in after he left a hostel at TWGHS Tsui Tsin Tong School in Pok Fu Lam in August 2020 when he turned 21.
Chen’s younger son called police at about 3.16am, reporting that Wong had collapsed at home and requested assistance.
An ambulance officer’s check on the scene found that Wong had no pulse, no breath and had shown stiffness.
After killing Wong, Chen cut her wrists with a chopper and a knife. She also took the medication prescribed to Wong and 20 sleeping pills prescribed for herself to treat her chronic insomnia in an attempt to take her own life.
She also woke up her younger son and asked him to report the case to police.
A check at Yan Chai Hospital found Chen had a 3cm cut on her left wrist and a 2cm one on her right wrist.
Upon examination, a toxic level of Amisulpride, an antipsychotic prescribed to Wong, was detected in his blood and stomach contents. Chlorpheniramine and Phenytoin, used to treat allergies and seizures, respectively, were also found in his blood at a therapeutic level.
Her condition briefly improved in June 2020, during which she stated she had a more stable mood, better sleep and appetite, and that she could cope with housework.
But she later reported a mood deterioration after Wong moved home in August 2020, saying she suffered from a pervasive low mood and fragmented sleep.
Manslaughter is punishable by up to life in jail in Hong Kong.
