TNAG-1212-FCO40-1515-Crimes-and-sentences-in-Hong-Kong--including-death-sentences-1982 — Page 72

For Executive Council

Report by City and New Territories Administration

Condemned Prisoner

Staff of the City District Office (Shum Shui Po) visited the mother of the prisoner,

the prisoner's father, the late Mr. CHAN Kau-king, passed away in 1959). She claimed that her son was basically a good boy but was lured into crime bcause of lack of family and school education and bad company. She did not think her son was the actual murderer & asked that the death sentence imposed on him be commuted.

2.

The neighbours of

expressed little interest in the case. However, some who were acquainted with the prisoner intimated that he was quite friendly and did not cause much trouble to residents in the Lei Cheng Uk Estate.

3.

On death sentence in general, most of those contacted, mainly Mutual Aid Committee and Area Committee members, believed that death sentence could help to reduce crime, especially serious crimes like murder.

Condemned Prisoner

4.

Staff of City District Office (Kowloon City) were not able to contact

wife of the prisoner, as she had moved out of the present address for almost a year and her whereabouts was not known.

5.

Mr. & Mrs. Cheung, the principal tenant intimated that they were surprised to know that the prisoner, who appeared to them to be a man of gentle disposition, was a robber and murderer. Although they were in favour of death sentence in general, they would like the prisoner's appeal to succeed out of sympathy for his wife and baby.

3.

The neighbours contacted, including community leaders and headmasters, were in favour of death sentence and its deterrent effect on violent crime was emphasized.

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