'Jury In Yoga Ball Murder Trial Was Misdirected'

The Court of Appeal has been told that a trial judge misdirected the jury which found a former CUHK professor guilty of murdering his wife and daughter using a yoga ball filled with toxic gas.

Khaw Kim-sun, 55, who was an associate professor at the university's department of anaesthesia and intensive care, was sentenced to life in prison in 2018 after a High Court jury unanimously decided that he was guilty of murdering his 47-year-old wife Wong Siew-fing, and 16-year-old daughter Lily.

Prosecutors said the anaesthesiologist put a yoga ball which was leaking carbon monoxide in the boot of a Mini Cooper driven by his wife.

Khaw’s wife and daughter died of carbon monoxide poisoning after they were found unconscious in the car which was parked near their home on the afternoon of May 22, 2015.

Khaw did not mention anything about the yoga ball during his first meeting with police officers in 2015, but admitted when he was arrested in 2016 that he had brought home the yoga ball filled with gas.

On Thursday, his lawyer, Christopher Grounds, argued that High Court judge Judianna Barnes should have made it clear to the jury that Khaw had only been exercising his right to silence during his first meeting with the police, saying Barnes’ failure to do so may have led the jury to question Khaw’s honesty.

Grounds argued that when Barnes offered a summary of the case to the jurors immediately before their deliberations, she wrongly “drew to their attention” the fact that Khaw had not spoken about the yoga ball the first time he spoke to police.

But the prosecution said this issue had not been challenged during the trial, adding that Khaw had been represented by his lawyers throughout the legal process and had been aware of his rights.

Throughout the appeal hearing, Khaw appeared focused as he sat in the dock, occasionally scribbling notes.

At least three times he handed notes he had written to his lawyers.

The hearing was adjourned with the ruling to come at a later date.