A HCCC 226/2024 A
[2025] HKCFI 1766
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
B HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION B
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO 226 OF 2024
C C
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D D
HKSAR
E v E
Ho Man-tim
F F
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G G
Before: DHCJ Vinci Lam, SC
Date: 10 March 2025 at 11.07 am
H Present: Ms Mok Wan-yin Winnie, SPP of the Department of H
Justice, for HKSAR
I
Mr Leo C T Yu, instructed by CW Lawyers, for the I
accused
Offence: (1) & (2) Wounding with intent (有意圖而傷人)
J J
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K Transcript of the Audio Recording K
of the Sentence in the above Case
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L L
COURT: The defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of wounding
M with intent, contrary to section 17(a) of the Offences M
against the Person Ordinance, Chapter 212. The victims of
the two counts are the defendant’s wife and elder daughter
N N
respectively.
O The facts that he admitted can be summarised as follows. O
The defendant and his wife, Madam Poon, lived together;
P occasionally, their elder daughter, Madam Ho, would stay P
over. The defendant has long harboured the suspicion that
Madam Poon has an extra-marital affair and that Madam Ho is
Q Q
not his biological daughter.
R It was Madam Poon’s birthday on 19 March 2023 and Madam Ho R
stayed with her parents at their residence on that day.
When it came to bedtime, the defendant slept in his bedroom
S and Madam Poon and Madam Ho slept in Madam Poon’s bedroom S
without locking the bedroom door.
T T
Whilst sleeping, both Madam Poon and Madam Ho suddenly felt
heat and pain on their faces. Madam Poon felt so painful
U that she could not open her eyes. Madam Ho woke up and saw U
CRT36/10.3.2025/TB 1 HCCC 226/2024(1)/Sentence
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A the defendant holding a chopper at the door of the bedroom. A
Madam Ho saw blood on Madam Poon’s body. Madam Ho asked the
defendant “not to do it” but the defendant chopped Madam Ho
B with the chopper. Madam Ho blocked it with both hands and a B
struggle ensued for around five seconds during which the
defendant had chopped Madam Ho’s head once or twice.
C C
The defendant was grumbling during the struggle and the
D chopper fell onto the ground. Madam Ho then snatched the D
chopper and locked herself and Madam Poon inside the
defendant’s bedroom. A report to the police was made. The
E police arrived shortly and located the defendant at the main E
door of the residence.
F F
Under arrest and caution, the defendant admitted that he had
poured hot water on his wife and daughter. In his
G subsequent video-recorded interview under caution, he G
admitted these. He felt disturbed and angry as he suspected
Madam Poon had an affair and Madam Ho was not biologically
H his. He poured hot porridge on Madam Poon’s head and H
chopped her right shoulder with the chopper that he fetched
I
from the kitchen. Madam Ho woke up and struggled with him I
and he had probably chopped Madam Ho as well. He did not
think about the consequences when he committed the offences
J but he had intended to wound Madam Poon and Madam Ho since J
the year before. He did not have any proof that Madam Ho
was not his. The chopper the police seized in this case is
K one with a 16-centimetre blade. K
L Both Madam Poon and Madam Ho sustained injuries and were L
hospitalised for nine days. Upon admission to the hospital,
Madam Poon was found to have 4-centimetre laceration over
M her temporal region requiring suturing; 5-centimetre M
transverse wound at the left dorso-ulnar distal forearm with
1-centimetre x 1-centimetre fascia break with fracture; 3
N per cent of Madam Poon’s total body surface area had second N
degree burn wound over face, chin and forehead; and Madam Ho
O was found to have: 8-centimetre full thickness linear O
laceration at the central frontal scalp; 5-centimetre
partial thickness linear laceration at the left high
P parietal scalp; 3-centimetre superficial laceration at the P
left posterior neck; 6-centimetre longitudinal cut wound
over posterior left distal arm; 1-centimetre laceration over
Q Q
2-centimetre anterior chest; and total of about 5 per cent
total body surface area second degree burn over face, neck
R anterior chest and right upper limb. Computer tomography of R
the brain was done showing two fracture sites noted at the
outer table of the left frontal bone without involving the
S inner table. S
Antecedent Statement and Criminal Record
T T
Based on the antecedent statement of the defendant prepared
U by the officer-in-charge dated 23 July 2024 and the U
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A submissions by his counsel Mr Yu, the background information A
of the defendant are these.
B The defendant was 73 years old at the time of offence, now B
almost 75. He is educated up to Primary 6 level. He did
not have any previous criminal convictions. Before coming
C C
to Hong Kong in 1993, he lived on the Mainland. He has all
along been in gainful employment. He was a cleansing worker
D at the time of the offences. D
The defendant and his wife married in 1972 for some 53 years
E and had good marital relationship until around 10 years ago E
when the defendant started suspecting his wife of having an
extra-marital affair and that Madam Ho was not biologically
F F
his. He had engaged a private detective to investigate
without any implicating evidence unearthed. He had
G performed a genetic test but the report confirmed that G
Madam Ho was biologically related to him yet he believed
that the report was wrong.
H H
Mitigation
I I
In mitigation, Mr Yu submitted on behalf of the defendant
five letters written by Madam Poon, Madam Ho, the
J defendant’s son, the defendant’s daughter-in-law and the J
defendant’s younger daughter. I have read them all.
Suffice it to say that they all confirmed that the defendant
K is a gentle, loving, caring, hardworking and responsible K
father and husband, and that they suggested that the
L defendant had committed the offences because of his mental L
illness. Madam Poon and Madam Ho have forgiven the
defendant and are willing to reunite with the defendant.
M They also confirmed that they have physically recovered from M
the injuries and have resumed normal life. This fact is
consistent with the assessment of the clinical psychologists
N in their victim’s impact reports. N
O Mr Yu urged the court to obtain psychiatric reports to look O
into the defendant’s mental condition. Two have been
obtained in respect of the defendant as a result. Both Dr
P Lui Sing-heung and Dr Lam Ho-yin, visiting psychiatrists, P
Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre, are of the expert opinion that
the defendant is fit to plead and he is suffering from
Q Q
delusional disorder, marked by persistent delusional beliefs
which is a mental illness. The defendant does not respond
R well to psychiatric treatment received since the offences. R
The defendant has active psychotic symptoms and risk of
violence against others in the community. They both
S recommended the defendant to be committed to Siu Lam S
Psychiatric Centre for an unspecified period. Mr Yu
confirmed that the defendant understood the reports and that
T T
the defendant does not oppose to the psychiatrists’
recommendation.
U U
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A The offences that the defendant has committed are serious A
ones. They were committed out of the defendant’s mental
illness. Having considered the psychiatrists’ opinion, I am
B satisfied that their recommendation of a hospital order for B
an unspecified period is appropriate. I so order and the
defendant is to be committed to Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre.
C C
The Mental Health Review Tribunal will regularly review his
progress. Hopefully, with proper treatment, his mental
D condition will be improved and can reunite with his family D
one day.
E E
F I/we certify that to the best of my/our ability F
and skill, the foregoing is a true transcript
of the audio recording of the above proceedings
G G
H H
.........................................
Bruce Jericho Fuellas Torres
Date: 20 March 2025
I I
J J
K K
L L
M M
N N
O O
P P
Q Q
R R
S S
T T
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