COURT: The jury has convicted this defendant, on the clearest evidence, of murder.
This was a knife attack which the defendant intended to carry out under comparative darkness in the village of Mun Hau Tsuen, which is the neighbouring village to where he lives himself. However, his victim, who was much larger than himself, managed to escape from the initial attack, but this had the result that the attack finished up inside the small village store, where the deceased hoped to find refuge.
However, inside were a group of people who, to their horror, no doubt, were able to see the defendant finish off his victim. At first they were both standing up, and it was then that the defendant stabbed the deceased a number of times and the deceased fell to the floor, face up, and the defendant then rode on top of the deceased, as it was described by a witness, and continued to stab him.
Although the pathologist found 27 stab wounds amongst the 48 areas of injury, it was two of those stab wounds that were particularly serious. One of them had cut through the rib bone and into the chest, and the other had damaged the heart, and proved fatal.
When the defendant was arrested he immediately admitted what he had done, with words to the effect that it was because of trouble between himself and the deceased in the past that his anger had built up, and so, to quote the defendant, “I finished him”.
There is little doubt that the defendant has a dangerously vicious streak to his character, as demonstrated by this case.
Would you please stand? As you well know, there is only one sentence for murder. You must go to prison for life.