Man accused of killing girlfriend with electric drill ‘loved her madly’, Hong Kong court hears
Childhood friend of defendant shocked to see blood-covered couple physically fighting despite their frequent quarrels
A security guard was madly in love with his girlfriend when he allegedly jabbed a 15.5-centimetre (six-inch) electric drill into her face, a Hong Kong jury was told on Wednesday.
The childhood friend of defendant Safdar Husnain, 28, agreed with defence suggestions that Husnain was “madly in love” and “really cared” for his late girlfriend Andrea Bayr, 25, despite their frequent quarrels, the High Court heard.
“They always fight, they always have arguments,” said Harris Khan, who had known Husnain for 15 years. “The girl always tried to force him to do something, play with him, humiliate him in front of people. It makes him angry every time, it tortures him.”
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But defence counsel David Boyton noted: “He was madly in love with her despite all that. He really cared for her.”
“Yes,” Khan replied.
So it came as a shock when on March 29, 2016 Khan returned from the toilet to see the couple in a physical fight with blood covering their bodies at a construction site in Tuen Mun, where Khan was working.
“This guy is my childhood friend,” Khan continued. “I know he doesn’t fight. He has no criminal record. I was shocked when I saw him like that.”
Khan did not know what the couple were fighting about, nor could he recall how they were fighting.
But he remembered calling home for Husnain’s family contacts and running across the road to Tuen Mun Police Station to make a report after failing to separate the entangled couple.
One of the officers at the scene had earlier testified in court that he saw Husnain lifting the electric drill to attack the woman’s head.
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Bayr was rushed to Tuen Mun Hospital at 2.51am, but was declared dead on arrival.
An autopsy on March 31 found a 15.5cm electric drill was pushed eight centimetres into her head, penetrating the area below her right eye, through her cheekbone and down to her jawbone.
She also suffered a brain haemorrhage, with deep bruises on her neck muscles, and traces of the drug methamphetamine, also known as Ice, in her blood and urine.
Dr Shum Ho-cheung concluded that Bayr died of either the head or neck injury, or both.
He also found the injuries on her upper limbs were compatible with defensive injuries, which “suggest the deceased was conscious at least at the start of the assault”.
Husnain pleaded not guilty to one count of murder.
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His friend’s evidence also revealed that Bayr had been supplying drugs to Husnain, and that they were smoking Ice on the night in question.
“She always come here,” Khan said, referring to the construction site. “Give him drugs and smoke with him and leave him alone.”
Khan admitted that he was also a drug user.
Asked where he bought his drugs, Khan replied: “I buy everywhere. In Hong Kong, it’s not hard to buy drugs, they’re everywhere.”
The defence will present its case before Mr Justice Kevin Zervos on Thursday.
