HONG KONG: Engineer Ngan Lak-kwong, 46, was sentenced to life imprisonment yesterday after having been found guilty of the murder of Leung Chi-wing, 36, an advertising company employee who intervened to stop a fight between members of his group and a second group of men at Big Wave Bay on September 13 in 2008. One of the other two defendants, clerk Wong Sze-ho, 35, was convicted on a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm (AOABH) and was released on bail, pending sentencing. Ngan's brother, electrician Ngan Sun-chi, 49, was found guilty on a charge of wounding with intent and is still in custody.

The trial of five alleged assailants started on November 5 in 2009 before Justice Darryl Saw and a nine-person jury. Although there were originally five alleged assailants, two of them, pilot David Chan, 34, and merchant Nelson Chow Kai-keung, 37, were found innocent and were released on December 15, 2009.

Wong, reflecting on the release after the 41-day trial, said the verdict was what he expected and that he felt upset because, after all, a man was killed.

Ngan Lak-kwong's two daughters burst into tears after hearing the verdict. The family apologized for what he did. However, the family of the victim did not accept the apology.

"Even if he is put in prison for his whole life, my brother will not come back to life," said the sister of the victim, Leung Chi-wing, adding, "We won't accept any apology or compensation."

Leung said the victim was a good son who loved his parents very much and had a good relationship with the family.

"He was killed right before the mid-autumn festival in 2008," said Leung. "So there are no more New Year festivals or mid-autumn festivals in our family after his death."

The victim Leung died after a fight at about 11 pm on September 13 in 2008 at Tai Long Wan village near Shek O.

A postmortem examination revealed that Leung suffered a fatal wound to his neck. The prosecution said the injury was caused by Ngan who was said to have stabbed Leung's head and neck with a silver object. Leung was trying to stop a fight between the defendants' friends and a drunken man from Leung's group.

There were also witnesses who saw Ngan Lak-kwong getting barbecue forks and a pair of scissors from a nearby store. The prosecutor said Ngan Sun-chi fetched a honey jar and smashed it against Leung's head several times until it broke, and Chan and Wong used plastic stools to beat Leung until the stools broke.

Wong Sze-ho and Ngan Sun-chi will be sentenced on February 1 after the judge receives the background reports of the two.

(HK Edition 01/07/2010 page1)