TNAG-0488-FCO40-553-Review-of-death-sentence-in-Hong-Kong-1974 — Page 113

ANNEX 10

XER(74) 132

Report to His Excellency the Governor in respect of Criminal Case No. 113 of the 1973 Session of the Supreme Court.

His Excellency the Governor of Hong Kong.

Sir,

LEUNG Wang alias LEUNG Wing-sang (aged 20 years

I have the honour to report pursuant to Clause XXXIV of the Royal Instructions that on the 9th of January 1974 the above-named prisoner was convicted by a jury of the murder of LAU Wah alias LAU Wah-hing. The prisoner was accordingly sentencel to death. His appeal against conviction was dismissed by the Full

Court on the 8th March 1974.

it

It was the Crown's case that in the early hours of the morning of the 19th July 1973 the prisoner together with at least six to seven others entered the Sin Cheung Apartment House on the 5th floor of Nos. 123-125 Leighton Road. The members of this gang including the prisoner were all armed with long knives and they proceeded to attack all the inmates of this apartment house irrespective as to whether they were "guests" or staff. In fact at least five persons were injured by members of this gang. the time of the attack two members of the staff, a Mr. Cheung and a Mr. Sin, were resting in one of the rooms, and the deceased had just gone into the adjacent bathroom which led off from this room with the intention of taking a bath. Both Mr. Cheung and Mr. Sin were injured. They both identified the prisoner as one of the intruders and Mr. Cheung identified the prisoner as one of the intruders who actually slashed him with a knife. The prisoner was also identified by the door-keeper as one of the intruders. The prisoner himself in a statement made under caution to the police admitted that he went to the premises with other people but he said that he took the knife from another person and was acting in self-defence. Mr. Cheung and Mr. Sin to escape their attackers ran into the adjacent bathroom. Outside the bathroom window was a long neon sign and Mr. Cheung who got out of the window first managed to get on to the inspection ladder of this sign and climbing down this ended up under what was described as the flower rack protruding from the 4th floor of the building from which precarious position he was rescued later by members of the Fire Brigade.