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him several times in the front and back. The judge's summing up seems to me fair and full and to have dealt very properly with the questions of provocation and self-defence. It is difficult to see how the jury could have come to a different verdict from the one which they reached. The fact that the deceased was an official watchman whose responsibility was to protect the property where he was employed seems to be relevant. Liu Chu was 46 at the time of the crime. There therefore seems to be no reason for a reprieve on grounds of age. The only thing that we do not have is any psychiatric report. We should urge the Governor to obtain this. But there is nothing in the records at present available to suggest that it will reveal any abnormality.
3.
It thus seems to me at first reading, that this may well be a case where, if the death penalty is to be retained at all in Hong Kong, there may be no alternative but to let the law take its course. I would be very grateful for your early comments. The Governor has asked for our reactions, if possible by 12 January.| But it is clearly important to get the decision on this case right, and if you need more time, we will tell him so. At present he envisages informal consultations with Hong Kong Executive Council on 29 January, after which he would inform us of his own preliminary decision. If this is that the law must take its course, we would then have eight weeks in which to consult Ministers with a view to a decision whether to support him or to take steps to abolish the death penalty in Hong Kong. At the end of those eight weeks, if Ministers agreed that he should be supported, the Governor would take the formal advice of Executive Council, and make and publish. his own decision.
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Ddow Sh
A C Stuart
Hong Kong & Indian Ocean Dept.
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