TNAG-0403-FCO40-449-Review-of-the-death-sentence-in-Hong-Kong-1973 — Page 70

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hanged as a deterrent to other potential murderers. Mr Rovle

said that that was not the way that he understood

tion.

We had been told that Tooi should not be reprieved because, hin

crime was worse than those of murderers who had been reprieved.

But to have allowed the law to take its course in Hong Kong would

have led to a major row in Parliament. There would have been a

vote of censure on the Secretary of State which might have been

carried. Mr Woo said that some Labour MP's had also made this

point to him. Mr Royle concluded by saying that the most recent

figures on violent crime that he had seen appeared to indicate

that its rise was now levelling out.