Hong Kong mall killer sent to psychiatric ward indefinitely
SCMP · 1 SOURCESabout 2 hours ago4 MIN
Summary
The High Court on Tuesday ordered 43-year-old former warehouse worker Szeto Sing-kwong (司徒成光) to be detained for an indefinite period at Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre in Tuen Mun after he admitted killing two women in a knife attack at Plaza Hollywood in Diamond Hill on June 2, 2023. Prosecutors accepted two pleas of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility after concluding that Szeto had suffered an acute relapse of paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the attack
Key Points
- The judge ordered mandatory psychiatric treatment and supervision, saying Szeto still showed limited insight into his mental illness after killing two people without logical reason
- Szeto told police he bought a 30cm sushi knife at the mall to replace an old one, then removed it from its packaging and sought someone to vent on
- The victims were Fong Hiu-tung, 26, and Lau Kai-hei, 22, who were attacked outside the Sasa cosmetics shop at about 5.10pm
- Szeto said the two friends had scoffed at him and made him feel uncomfortable, and that he attacked them to teach them a lesson
- The judge praised a chef at the shopping centre for stopping Szeto and preventing him from leaving before police arrived
Why It Matters
The ruling means Szeto will be held in a secure psychiatric facility without a fixed release date, with treatment and supervision taking priority over a conventional prison term. The case also returns attention to the Plaza Hollywood attack, whose viral CCTV footage intensified public safety fears while Hong Kong was still emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic