A Hong Kong father has been sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of murdering his three-year-old daughter by violently shaking her to death in 2020, with a judge slamming him for using aggravated violence against a defenceless child.
Madam Justice Anna Lai Yuen-kee passed the mandatory life sentence for murder on Lau Kai-ping, 42, after he was convicted of killing Leung Nga-sze in July 2020 by the High Court jury last week.
The defendant had 12 previous conviction records and was only released from jail a few months before he committed the murder. He served a 20-month jail term for wounding Nga-sze’s mother by splashing corrosive liquid onto her and was released in April 2020.
He admitted holding Nga-sze’s shoulder and shaking her a few times on the morning of July 18, but said he was not aware that such action would harm her.
Hospital doctors found signs of bleeding beneath the girl’s skull and in her retinas, along with old bruises on her inner thighs. She was suspected of suffering from shaken baby syndrome and died on July 29.
Lau admitted to a count of child abuse charge and wanted to plead guilty to manslaughter, but the prosecution insisted on charging him with murder.
Judge Lai said she believed that Lau continuously abused Nga-sze when he was staying with the girl and her mother, Helen Leung, between May and July.
