'Loving Couple, But Also Unreasonable Outburst'

The children of a University of Hong Kong professor, who is accused of murdering his wife, told a court on Thursday they believed their parents loved each other, but they also said they were not aware of their parents' money issues.

Cheung Kie-Chung, 56, has pleaded not guilty to murder but admitted manslaughter in the death of his wife, Chan Wai-man, in August 2018.

Their daughter, Nancy Cheung, on Thursday told the High Court that her parents had been normally a sweet couple.

She said they were happy when they returned from a UK trip in August 2018, before the killing took place.

The daughter also showed the court a picture of her parents embracing each other months before, saying she thought they were "cute".

But she also recalled occasions when her mother berated her spouse.

She spoke about her mother scolding him for no good reason and saying "hurtful" things to him like "if it wasn't for my investment, you would be a beggar sleeping on the street".

She described her mother's outburst as "unreasonable".

But the daughter said her father never acted impulsively, and never talked back to his wife.

The couple's son, Scot Cheung, told the High Court that the associate professor in engineering still loved his wife "no matter what".

Both children said they were not aware of their parents' financial situation or several million-dollar cheques written by the defendant to his wife.

Regarding a HK$4 million cheque that her mother tried to deposit into her bank account, the daughter said her father later told her that he did not transfer money into his current account because the couple had had an argument.

The defendant has denied killing his wife over money. The trial continues.