Man who killed mistress gets life
A married man who burned alive his former mistress and her new lover after he lit a fire outside their bedroom door was jailed for life yesterday.
A Court of First Instance jury found Charles Cheung Kang-chau, 35, guilty of two counts of murder for the death of Fok Yuk-chun, 38, and Li Wing-on, 45 on August 23, 2002.
Mrs Justice Verina Bokhary imposed the mandatory life sentence.
The jury had heard Cheung also blocked a metal grille on the front door, delaying firefighters' access to the 21st-floor flat.
The court was earlier told Cheung and Fok's relationship had ended in 2001 but Cheung could not accept it was over.
Late on the evening of August 22, he turned up at Fok's front door with a bottle of wine only to find his former lover was not home, the court was told.
Cheung then went upstairs to the rooftop to wait for her return.
When he came downstairs several hours later, he was aggrieved to hear Fok and Li inside the flat. He retrieved a bottle of kerosene he saw on the rooftop, left it outside the front door and returned upstairs. He then climbed down the side of the building and used a chopper to pry open Ms Fok's kitchen window.
Once inside, he retrieved the kerosene and started a fire outside the bedroom door while Fok and Li were inside, the court heard.
Cheung left by the front door, only to run into a suspicious watchman who asked him to follow him down to the lobby, prosecutor Michael Arthur said.
Cheung told the watchman he needed to get Fok to vouch for him. When he got upstairs, he blocked the grille with a metal pipe.
Cheung fled the building but ran into police officers at 9.35am - but said nothing about the fire.
Emergency services were alerted a few minutes later when a neighbour called 999. Fok and Li had also called from the bedroom.
When firefighters broke into the room, they found their bodies burned beyond recognition.
