Hong Kong man, 22, charged with manslaughter of stepfather
- Suspect’s elder sister, mother also arrested for allegedly perverting course of justice by claiming dead man lost footing and fell
An unemployed Hong Kong man appeared in court on Thursday charged with killing his stepfather at the family’s flat and conspiring with other family members to convince police the alleged victim fell and died by accident.
Man Yuk-shing, 22, appeared at West Kowloon Court to face a manslaughter charge in connection with the alleged killing of 44-year-old Lee Wai-ming at the flat in Fortune Estate, Cheung Sha Wan.
It is also alleged the defendant, his older sister Man Siu-ling, 33, and mother Tjong Fui-tju, 59, conspired to pervert the course of justice by hiding the fact that Man had kicked and stepped on his stepfather’s head half a day before the latter was pronounced dead in hospital.
The court was told that Man Yuk-shing was believed to have assaulted Lee at the flat in Fortune Estate, Cheung Sha Wan, on several occasions between July 1 and 8.
Prosecutors applied for a three-month adjournment of the case for police to conduct further inquiries.
Man Yuk-shing did not apply for bail and was remanded in custody, but his mother and sister were released on bail of HK$10,000 each (US$1,280) by Magistrate Jason Wan Siu-ming.
Wan told the two they could not leave Hong Kong and ordered them to surrender their travel documents and report to police every day.
The case was adjourned to the same court in October.
Emergency personnel were called to the family’s flat at around 2pm on Monday, when Tjong called police and claimed her husband had been found unconscious and with head injuries.
Lee was taken to Caritas Medical Centre in Sham Shui Po, where he was pronounced dead.
A source familiar with the case said police were told the dead man had lost his footing and fell to the floor, which had caused head injuries.
“Preliminary investigation revealed the man had a dispute with his stepson over trivial matters, which escalated into a physical altercation and assault by the stepson,” the insider said.
Detectives from the Sham Shui Po district crime squad are investigating the case.
Police logged eight reports of killings between January and May, compared with 11 cases for the same period last year.
