Hong Kong judge sentences man to psychiatric centre for trying to kill flatmate after hearing voices

A former factory worker in Hong Kong has received an indefinite term of custody in a psychiatric centre for attempting to murder his flatmate after claiming to have heard a voice that accused him of stealing a pack of cigarettes.

The High Court on Wednesday accepted two government psychiatrists’ suggestion to impose a hospital order on Chow Wai-hung. They said he had a very high risk of reoffending if left alone and required compulsory inpatient treatment.

Chow, 47, admitted earlier this month to using a meat cleaver to attack Shek Ming in a shared flat in Fanling on May 16 last year.

The 65-year-old victim sustained deep cuts to his forehead and fractures to his skull, just a day after he moved into the flat on Luen On Street, the court heard.

The horrific attack took place just a month after the defendant, who became a patient of the public psychiatric service in 1989, was released from Castle Peak Hospital in Tuen Mun.

Chow claimed that soon before the offence, he had heard the voice of a middle-aged man accusing him of stealing cigarettes. He wanted to kill Shek as he felt offended by the allegation, the court heard.

A psychiatric report submitted by the defence said the accused was probably suffering from schizophrenia and antisocial personality disorder when he initiated the assault.

The doctor highlighted the possibility that Chow could have had auditory hallucinations and suggested he was suffering an abnormality of the mind which “substantially impaired his responsibility for his act”.

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In sentencing, Mr Justice Albert Wong Sung-hau highlighted the “very serious” nature of the offence, which ought to be denounced with a penalty appropriate to the circumstances.

But the judge also noted the victim’s injuries were not life-threatening given that he had received timely treatment, adding there was no premeditation on the defendant’s part.

While accepting Chow was mentally impaired at the time of the offence, Wong said that could not detract from the need to protect the public from potential harm in the future.

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“It will be in the interests of both the defendant and the public that the hospital order should be of no definite term,” the judge ruled.

Chow is expected to serve time in Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre in Tuen Mun, which is run by the Correctional Services Department.

Attempted murder is punishable by up to life imprisonment.