The High Court has handed an indefinite term in a secure psychiatric center to a mentally ill man, who stabbed two people to death and wounded three others on May 8, 2010.

In handing down the sentence, Judge Verina Saeeda Bokhary said the detention was not meant as punishment, but as a measure in the interest of public safety.

"The defendant was diagnosed with schizophrenia and proved to be dangerous to the society according to two psychiatric reports," said Bokhary.

The defendant, Li Chung-man, 43, will be admitted to the psychiatric center, with experts assessing his situation on a regular basis.

Li, charged with murder, had pleaded to manslaughter. His plea was accepted by the court.

Li, who suffers from schizophrenia, slaughtered a female neighbor, 56, and a man, 35, at a Kwai Chung estate.

Lau Yun-lien, the female victim, was reportedly working in a stairwell with Tam Yuet-shun, another victim who was wounded in the attack.

Lau mumbled a complaint when Li, who was passing by, asked them to make room so that he could pass by. Li, then, took out a knife and stabbed Lau. Tam fled, but Li caught up with her and stabbed her three times before she fell.

Li then went downstairs and stabbed Chan Siu-ling, a security guard, who was wounded and left incapacitated for work.

Without stopping, Li went to the management company's office at the Kwai Chung estate, where he killed Kwok Fong-kei, a staff member of the company, and injured his colleague Leung Yiu-chung.

Li was found calmly smoking at the scene when the police arrived.

Li had been admitted to Kwai Chung Hospital previously and was considered a high-risk patient.

He reportedly refused the community nurse's visit before the deadly incident. He claimed that the nurse would force him to go to hospital.

In an attempt to fight the nurse and social workers, he even set up a closed-circuit television at his front door to observe their arrival.

The hospital came under criticism for failing to flag Li's potential volatility and for not notifying social workers beforehand.

The incident stirred public concern about potential danger created by mentally unstable patients who may live unnoticed in the community.

Following the incident, the Hospital Authority has set up a review committee to investigate the incident and suggest precautions.

However, none of the recommendations given in the report released in August 2010 have been implemented.

stushadow@chinadailyhk.com

China Daily

(HK Edition 09/02/2011 page1)