A 49-year-old mother yesterday pleaded guilty to manslaughter when appearing in High Court after strangling her 21-year-old retarded son to death with a plastic tablecloth nearly three years ago.

Mainland-born mother Chen Xueping pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of her older son, Wong Fat-lun, in their home at Ying Kwai House, Kwai Chung Estate, between September 4 and 5, 2020.

The case was adjourned to May 12 for sentencing, pending probation report and medical assessments by psychiatric and psychological professionals.

"I would need to know now what her present medical condition is and how she is getting on with it and if she will need any further assistance even after she's out ," High Court judge Susana Maria D'Almada Remedios said.

On the night of the incident, Chen and her husband had an argument over child care related issues, while Wong continued to make noises and unwilling to come out of the toilet, which triggered Chen the idea of dying along with her son.

She tied a piece of plastic tablecloth with four knots and shaped it into a rope of nearly one meter long, then strangled her son for 2 to 3 minutes.

She then texted her husband and friends, saying she was exhausted and could not endure, specifying that she would die with Wong and asked them to take good care of the twins, before taking nearly 20 sleeping pills and cutting her wrists with a kitchen knife.

Wong was born in the mainland in 1998 and diagnosed with mild intellectual disability, autism and epilepsy since childhood and needed medication.

He left Tung Wah Group of Hospitals' Tsui Tsin Tong School Hostel in Pok Fu Lam as he turned 21 years old on August 31, 2020, and began living with his parents and twin siblings.

Earlier, Chen was diagnosed with chronic depression in 2019 during a psychiatric assessment.

Her mental condition improved in June, 2020 but reported a mood deterioration after Wong returned home, suffering from fragmented sleep and depressed thoughts.

After failing to commit suicide, Chen woke her husband and the 13-year-old younger son and confessed to killing Wong, the younger son then called the police at about 3.16am when he found his brother collapsed at home.

When the ambulance arrived, Wong had no pulse and was certified dead.

The knotted plastic tablecloth used to strangle the 21-year-old son three years ago.

Mother admits manslaughter of retarded son