Boy, 5, starved to death was half normal weight for age, Hong Kong court told
Mother, 38, pleads guilty to count of manslaughter and another of cruelty to child over the death of son, age five, in September 2022
A five-year-old boy died after his mother physically abused, confined and starved him until he was a mere 9.7kg (21.38lbs) – half the normal weight for his age – a Hong Kong court has heard.
The 38-year-old mother, only identified as “LST” at the High Court, on Monday pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter and another of cruelty to a child over the death of her son in September 2022.
An autopsy report showed the boy had starved to death and had also suffered 129 injuries to different parts of his body.
Madam Justice Susana D’Almada Remedios said the case was “extremely serious” and the level of abuse involved was “at the top end” of the scale for such a crime.
She also ordered the prosecution to look into why the boy, who had been in foster care under the Social Welfare Department’s supervision since he was two months old, was returned to his mother’s care sometime between 2020 and 2021.
The court heard the defendant also had an elder daughter and a younger son. All three children were sent to a residential care home at some point in their lives, as she was deemed unable to care for them.