Hong Kong construction worker jailed for 15 years for manslaughter and arson
Iu Wai-cheung, 65, slashed his girlfriend more than 100 times before attacking her young daughters and setting fire to their subdivided flat
A Hong Kong construction worker has been jailed for 15 years for manslaughter and arson after killing his girlfriend and her two young daughters, with the presiding High Court judge saying the sentence must reflect the gravity of the “brutal acts” he committed.
Standing in the dock on Friday, 65-year-old Iu Wai-cheung wiped away tears as the sentence was handed down.
“The court has the duty to impose appropriate sentences to reflect the fact that the defendant took the life of three persons, with one as young as eight,” Madam Justice Judianna Wai-ling Barnes said.
Seven jurors acquitted Iu of three counts of murder, instead finding him guilty of the lesser offence of manslaughter after concluding the attack on July 12, 2021, was provoked by an argument with his 42-year-old girlfriend Wen Jufang.
He slashed her with a knife more than 100 times and attacked her two daughters, aged eight and 13, before setting fire to the subdivided flat in Tai Po. The defendant was also found guilty of one count of arson with intent.
“He clearly knew the three were alive when he set fire to the room,” Barnes said. “The three persons lost their lives due to his brutal acts.”
In handing down the sentence, Barnes said the starting point for the arson charge was 15 years, and the court would not impose a discount on the sentence for that crime.
