TNAG-0488-FCO40-553-Review-of-death-sentence-in-Hong-Kong-1974 — Page 4

ANNEX ATO XCR(74) 203

Report to His Excellency the Governor in respect of Case No.17 of the 1974 Criminal Sessions of the Supreme Court.

His Excellency the Governor of Hong Kong.

Sir,

LAU Ming-chiu (Aged 21 years)

I have the honour to report pursuant to Clause XXXIV

of the Royal Instructions that on the 31st May, 1974 the above

named prisoner was convicted by a jury of the murder of Madam YEUNG Kau-mui. The prisoner was accordingly sentenced to death. His appeal against conviction was dismissed by the Full Court on

the 19th August, 1974.

Arraigned at the trial before me were two accused persons, the prisoner and one TANG Shek-chun. They were both

charged with the murder of Madam YEUNG Kau-mui and they were also

both charged with the offences of assault with intent to rob, and

wounding with intent Er. CHEUNG Kwong-ping, the husband of the

deceased. As well as finding the prisoner guilty of murder the

jury also returned a verdict of guilty in relation to the charges

of assault and wounding. With regard to the prisoner's co-accused,

in his case the jury returned a verdict of not guilty of murder but

guilty of manslaughter and also guilty of assault and wounding.

It was the Crown's case that on the night of the 23rd/24th August, 1973 the prisoner and his co-accused decided to rob the Wa Nam Apartment House at No.117 Ma Tau Wei Road, 1st floor, Kowloon. For this purpose they both armed themselves each with a butcher's

knife, each having a blade of 8 inches in length, they were also

accompanied by a third youth, WONG Pang-yuk, who gave evidence on

behalf of the Crown. This youth told the Court that he met the

prisoner and his co-accused on the evening of the 23rd August, 1973

to discuss the prospect of obtaining a job. That the prisoner and

his co-accused took him back to the prisoner's flat and he described

how knives were produced, and that he was then forced by the prisoner

and his co-accused to accompany them to No.117 Ma Tau Woi Road. He

said that he did not know why they went to that address, and he did

not know that the prisoner and his co-accused had planned to commit

a robbery. He described how the prisoner went up the stairs while

his co-accused stayed at the bottom until later the prisoner called