2
proprietor (meaning Mr. CHEUNG). He did not admit stabbing the
deceased.
6.
A third man, WONG Pan-yuk, was also involved in the
robbery, though he claimed that he went along because he was
afraid of the other two. He gave evidence for the prosecution,
but did not see anything of the events at the door of the apart-
ment.
DEFENCE.
A
7.
LAU's defence was that he was at the Oriental Singing
Hall with a girlfriend at the time of the killing.
The girl
refused to give evidence on his behalf. She was, however, called
by the prosecution in rebuttal and denied being with LAU, though
she agreed that she knew him in the course of her employment ás
a dance hostess. LAU called another witness, who said that he
"
had seen LAU with a girl whom he did not know at the singing hall.
8.
MEDICAL EVIDENCE.
The deceased bled to death from a single stab wound on
the lower part of the left side of her neck. The wound penetrated
into the chest cavity and ended at the top of the left lung. The
stab cut open the left jugular vein causing the heavy bleeding.
9.
AN EARLIER PLEA.
As the trial judge explains in his report to the
Governor, LAU at one stage pleaded guilty to the manslaughter
of the deceased. The Crown accepted this plea, but because LAU
was then already in the charge of the jury it was necessary for
him to plead before the jury which would then have returned a
verdict in accordance with the judge's direction. When called
on to plead before the jury, LAU reverted to his former plea of
not guilty and a trial was then ordered.