Psychiatrist and mother tells a different story

The inquest of 15-year-old Chan Yin-lam’s death enters the third day, Chan's mother denied the psychiatrist's claim that she stopped the teenager from attending a follow up medical consultation.

Chan's body was found floating in the sea off Yau Tong last September.

Castle Peak Hospital’s psychiatrist, Chung, said Chan’s mother rejected Chan from attending psychiatric follow-up consultation in August last year. However, Chan’s mother said Chan is the one who refuses to attend consultation. 

Chan’s mother said in court that her daughter has been "hearing men's voices", and that psychiatrist Chung has emphasized that Chan is “only being rebellious.” In response, psychiatrist Chung said she has no record of such a statement.

Chan’s mother added she denied Chan from seeking psychiatric follow-up consultation in March, but not August. She said she trusts the psychiatrist’s judgment. 

Coroner Ko Wai-hung said the jury should judge on their own which version of events is true.

Another doctor from Castle Peak Hospital, Au Yeung, said Chan appears to be calm and stable when they met on March 13. Chan did not tell him that she had any auditory hallucinations or suicidal tendencies. 

Au Yeung said Chan is slightly irritated at the time, but that does not mean she is suicidal. He then diagnosed Chan with acute stress reaction and oppositional defiant disorder. 

Coroner Ko asked if he had stopped following-up on Chan’s case because of her family’s rejection, Au Yeung replied “that’s half of the reason why,” but at the same time the severity of the patient’s condition needs to be assessed.

Chan’s boyfriend as well as his father, testified in the court today. 

Chan’s boyfriend, Ng, said they started to write to each other on February 22 last year, when he is serving his sentence at the correctional institution. The last time they contacted each other was on September 15, four days before Chan’s disappearance.

Chan has told both of them that she had smoked weed before. Ng said Chan has emphasized that she doesn’t like people taking drugs because her father was a drug addict.

Chan has attempted to visit her boyfriend multiple times in August without Ng’s father's presence, and the correctional institution has to call Ng’s father to pick her up.