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Brian Wong

A Hong Kong man suffering from a severe mental illness has been sentenced to an indefinite period in a psychiatric hospital for stabbing two women to death in a frenzied knife attack at a shopping centre three years ago.
The High Court on Tuesday ordered former warehouse worker Szeto Sing-kwong to receive mandatory psychiatric treatment and supervision at the Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre in Tuen Mun, noting that he continued to display limited insight into his mental condition after killing two people for no apparent reason.
The presiding judge also praised a chef at the shopping centre who stopped the assailant and prevented him from leaving the scene until police arrived.
Szeto, 43, pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility after prosecutors accepted that he should not be held liable for murder as he had experienced an acute relapse of paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the offence.
The unprovoked attack at Plaza Hollywood, which was captured in CCTV footage that later went viral, stoked safety fears among residents at a time when the city was still dealing with the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The court heard Szeto had gone to the shopping centre in Diamond Hill on June 2, 2023, to buy a sushi knife to replace an old one at his public rental flat.
He told police he had removed the 30cm (12-inch) knife from its packaging right after the purchase because he felt a “strong discomfort” and wanted to “find someone to vent” his pent-up emotions on.
The defendant wandered around the shopping centre wielding the unsheathed knife and crossed paths with Fong Hiu-tung, 26, and Lau Kai-hei, 22, outside a Sasa cosmetics shop at around 5.10pm.
Szeto claimed that the two women had scoffed at him and made him feel “unhappy and uncomfortable”, so he assaulted the pair to “teach them a lesson”. He added that he felt “relieved” after the crime.
Video footage showed the defendant approaching Fong from behind and repeatedly stabbing her in the chest and abdomen for nearly a minute until she stopped moving.
Lau attempted to intervene several times, only to be stabbed herself moments later.
Szeto only stopped when a 64-year-old chef, identified only by his nickname Fai, hit the assailant with a stool he had grabbed from a Chinese restaurant where he was having his meal break. The chef continued to engage Szeto until police arrived a few minutes later.
Medical findings showed that Fong sustained 27 knife wounds, while Lau sustained eight. They both died of blood loss and respiratory failure.
Szeto, who was declared bankrupt in 2019, had relied on cash allowances under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance scheme since becoming unemployed in 2012.
He was first diagnosed with psychosis in May 2020 after being remanded in the Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre on suspicion of punching and threatening his elder brother with a chopper.
After serving a two-month sentence in Siu Lam for charges arising from the 2020 incident, Szeto continued to receive inpatient and outpatient psychiatric treatment and was assessed to be mentally stable just days before the killings.
Defence counsel David Boyton acknowledged on Tuesday that there was no other suitable sentence for his client and that the crime had a devastating impact on the two victims’ mothers.
“It is clear that this defendant is a danger to society … It is quite clear what the sentence is likely to be,” the lawyer said.

Madam Justice Esther Toh Lye-ping noted that the mothers of both victims had declined psychological counselling.
Fong’s mother explained she feared treatment would strip away her grief, which she viewed as the last remaining connection to her daughter.
The judge urged the two mothers to reconsider seeking support and said they should remember the happy memories with their daughters instead of the horrific attack.
“It is unfortunate and tragic that both the deceased who were out on an innocent shopping expedition at a shopping mall, should meet such a painful end to their young lives,” she said.
“Of course, the court has many available ways to punish the defendant. However, in view of the psychiatric reports, I am also of the same opinion that a hospital order for an unspecified period is the only fit sentence to pronounce.”


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Law and Crime

Judge accepts Szeto Sing-kwong’s diminished responsibility after he attacked two women at shopping centre during schizophrenic episode in 2023


Judge accepts Szeto Sing-kwong’s diminished responsibility after he attacked two women at shopping centre during schizophrenic episode in 2023.


Crime in Hong Kong

Esther Toh Lye-ping

Indefinite time in psychiatric ward for Hong Kong man who fatally stabbed 2 in mall

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Judge accepts Szeto Sing-kwong’s diminished responsibility after he attacked two women at shopping centre during schizophrenic episode in 2023

Judge accepts Szeto Sing-kwong’s diminished responsibility after he attacked two women at shopping centre during schizophrenic episode in 2023