Woman accused of killing ex-husband with spanner over dinner dispute, Hong Kong court told
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 30 September, 2015, 4:31pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 30 September, 2015, 4:31pm
Julie Chu
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The couple fought on March 3 last year at their home in Lek Yuen Estate, Sha Tin.
A female security guard beat up her former husband with a spanner so badly at a Sha Tin flat in March last year that he later died, Hong Kong’s High Court heard this morning.
The fight arose from defendant Li Kit-chun’s refusal to buy dinner for her ex-spouse Choi Fu-wah, who Li claimed was the first to use violence, the prosecution said.
Li, 51, denies a count of murder over the death of Choi, 59, at their home in Lek Yuen Estate.
Yau Man-kit, who lived next door to the couple, testified in court that on the evening of March 3 last year, the couple and their son knocked on his door asking for help.
Choi was covered with blood all over and needed Li and his son to help him walk.
“Li looked very nervous,” Yau said. “She keep apologising to Choi and asked me to call the police for them.”
Choi suffered 13 head wounds and a fractured skull. He died a few days later on March 8 because of complications caused by his injuries.
Prosecutor Anna Lai Yuen-kee described the case as a “family tragedy” in her opening speech to the jury.
Li, born in mainland China, married Hong Kong resident Choi in 1988 and gave birth to a son the following year, according to Lai.
She relocated to Hong Kong in 1996, but her husband lost his job during the 1997 financial crisis.
He received compensation of about HK$200,000 from his employer. After the money was used up, he spent his time drinking while Li continued working to support the family.
Quarrels broke out frequently and the couple sometimes fought as well, though the family had no history of domestic violence.
The couple eventually divorced in 2013, but Li allowed Choi to live at home during his wait for the Housing Authority to allocate a new flat to him, the court heard.
On the night of the assault, Li returned home at about 8pm after work. Choi asked her to go out again and get him dinner, but Li replied she was tired and asked him to wait for a while, the prosecutor cited Li’s statement to the police as saying.
Choi then used a spanner to strike her head when she was taking off her shoes, whereupon she grabbed a pair of scissors nearby and tried to stab Choi, according to Li’s statement.
When she saw that Choi was about to attack her again, she wrestled the spanner from him and hit him back.
She later told the police that night: “He hit me first. I was so blinded by fury that I used a spanner to strike his head.”
The trial continues before Mrs Justice Judianna Barnes Wai-ling.
