30th March 2023 – (Hong Kong) A 66-year-old restaurant worker in Hong Kong, was sentenced to 7 and a half years in prison for manslaughter, after stabbing his brother 36 times in a dispute over electricity bills. The defendant and his brother, lived together for years in an apartment on Fefe Street in Mong Kok until the defendant’s wife moved in. The dispute began when Bu’s brother demanded they split the electricity bill on a per-person basis instead of 50-50.
The defendant’s brother often stayed in the apartment alone as he was married and had another home. On the day of the incident, the defendant found out that his room and kitchen had no electricity while his brother’s room and the living room did. He believed his brother had turned off some of the power, so he confronted him. The defendant admitted to attacking his brother with a knife in his room, but claimed that his brother attacked him first, forcing him to defend himself. However, forensic evidence showed that the defendant’s brother had 36 stab wounds, 4 of which were fatal.
The defendant denied the murder charge but was convicted of manslaughter after the judge ruled that he had been provoked. The judge acknowledged the difficult circumstances that led to the incident but emphasised that taking a life warranted punishment. The defence argued that the defendant was not a violent person, and his mother testified that her son was usually peaceful. The defence also stated that the defendant now regretted his actions and had nightmares about the incident. However, the judge felt that a prison sentence was necessary to reflect the gravity of the crime.