Jailed Killer Of Teen Tagged 'every Parent's Fear'

A killer described by a judge as the "type of person every parent fears" was sentenced to life in prison on Friday for murdering a 15-year-old part-time model and sexually violating her body.

Lau Cheung-fai, who is unemployed, had admitted to killing Kwok Wai-ming and abusing her body, but had told the High Court that he was suffering from a mental illness at the time. He killed the teenager after hiring her for a photo shoot at his Mong Kok home in December 2014.

But Judge Kevin Zervos rejected the mental illness claim and said the 37-year-old is a “real danger to the public”.

“He showed her no mercy or human feeling in the deliberate and sustained infliction of violence and torture on her. He is the type of person that all parents fear and dread when their children go onto social mediums or social networking sites," he wrote.

Lau had claimed he had heard voices he believed to be of God and the devil after he struck the victim with a ketchup bottle and strangled her.

But the judge rejected this. “I am in no doubt that he either made things up or exaggerated matters in an attempt to present himself as suffering from mental illness at the time of killing to such an extent that he didn’t know what he was doing,” he said.

The victim had got to know the killer through a smartphone application. The judge said social media operators should also be held responsible and they should try and prevent crimes linked to their services.

"As we have warning signs on our streets and products alerting us to potential hazards or dangers, or reminding us of the law or of our legal responsibilities, it would seem that at the very least we should have such warning signs in cyberspace when required,” the judge said.

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