The High Court on Tuesday handed a 43-year-old man an indefinite hospital order for stabbing two women to death at Plaza Hollywood in 2023 after accepting his diminished responsibility plea. The defendant, Szeto Sing-kwong, pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility this morning.
The court heard that Szeto attacked the two victims — 26-year-old Fong Hiu-tong and her 22-year-old friend Lau Kai-hei — on the third floor of the mall on June 2, 2023, after buying a knife nearby. In a video interview with police, Szeto said he attacked the two women because he thought they were laughing at him and lost control of his impulse to strike.
It is reported that both victims sustained multiple stab wounds to the chest and abdomen, leading to organ damage, massive blood loss, and respiratory failure.
According to the prosecution, Szeto had a history of schizophrenia and required regular follow-ups at a psychiatric center. Psychiatric experts assessed that he was in a state of schizophrenic relapse at the time of the attack, experiencing persecutory delusions and auditory hallucinations that impaired his judgment and self-control.
High Court Judge Esther Toh Lye-ping described the case as a tragedy, imposing an indefinite hospital order on the recommendation of psychiatric reports.
