TNAG-0487-FCO40-552-Review-of-death-sentence-in-Hong-Kong-1974 — Page 184

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hands and sometimes threw things at her.

However she said that

when her mother did reside in the matrimonial home, she and the

prisoner did share the same bedroom.

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The medical evidence was that the head injuries

sustained by the deceased were consistent with her having been

hit on the head with the iron stool that had been recovered.

from the prisoner's home. The Forensic Pathologist said that

at least 16 blows had been delivered to the deceased's head

and that considerable force had been used, also he considered

that most of the blows had been delivered when the deceased was

on the ground.

The prisoner gave evidence in his defence. He was not

a good witness in that he was extremely loquacious, he was muddled

in the way he gave his evidence, frequently not answering the

questions put to him both by his own counsel and counsel for the

Crown, but instead kept changing to a different subject or going

back over evidence that he had already given. I do not consider

that he was being purposely obtuse, it was not disputed that he

was an uneducated man having received only one year's schooling.

The prisoner said that he had been married for 17 years,

and that he had a family consisting of 1 daughter and 3 sons. He

said that by trade he was a seamen cook until he was injured as a

result of an accident on board his ship in 1969 when he had to

give up his job at sea, and thereafter he had difficulty in

obtaining work ashore. He said that it was at this time that

troubles arose between himself and his wife over money matters,

and that his wife started going out with other men, and that from time to time his wife used to leave him for various periods, that

sometimes she took the children with her but that she often left

them with him and that he then had to fend for himself and the

children. He said that he had never told anyone about his wife going out with other men because he had his self-respect to consider. He said that 'after the visit to the City District Office on the 2nd of April, he had agreed to vacate the matrimonial home the following

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