Youth's mother and sister killed in brutal early morning attack

A 15-year-old boy has been arrested after he confessed to the slaying of his 42-year-old mother and 12-year-old sister in their Tsuen Wan flat.

Police spokesman Sherwin Chan Sheung-yin said police received a call from the Form 3 student who said he was injured and his mother and sister seriously hurt, at around 3:30 am Thursday.

Responding, officers found the boy in Tsuen Wan's Rivera Park where they also located a blood-stained glove and chopper.

The mother and sister were found in their Heung Wo Street flat covered in chop wounds. They were declared dead at the scene, Chan said, adding a post-mortem examination would be conducted on the bodies.

The victims had sustained several wounds on their necks and the lower parts of their bodies.

"Initial investigations indicate the boy had no history of mental illness or drug abuse," Chan said, adding, "he is not believed to have had any arguments with anyone or with his family members or friends before he chopped them. We are still investigating the motive."

The boy was taken to Yan Chai Hospital to treat wounds on his hands.

The family operated a 24-hour restaurant in the neighborhood where the father was at work at the time of the killings, according to local media.

The boy was described as quiet. He would sometimes lend a hand at the restaurant. A note on the shuttered doors of the building declared that the restaurant was closed for the day.

According to Chairman of the Law Society of Hong Kong's Criminal Practice Committee Stephen Hung, the boy likely will be tried as an adult in the High Court with a jury.

"It is likely he will be charged with two counts of murder since he confessed," Hung said.

Prior to a 2002 judicial review ruling by Justice Michael Hartmann, underage murderers' sentences were commuted to a term of imprisonment upon the discretion of the Queen and later the Chief Executive.

But the power was struck down after Justice Hartmann found it was inherently a judicial power.

"For any person convicted for life who was under 18 at the time of the offense, the court has discretion if that person should be imprisoned for life or for a shorter period of time whereby they could be eligible for parole," Hung said.

Carrying a penalty of life imprisonment if found guilty of murder, the boy would have access to a defense of diminished responsibility, if it can be proven he suffered from a mental illness at the time of the offense. Another defense could be provocation.

China Daily

(HK Edition 07/23/2010 page1)