Hong Kong man ordered indefinitely detained after killing two women in knife attack

A Hong Kong court has ordered former warehouse worker Szeto Sing-kwong to be detained in a psychiatric facility for an indefinite period after he killed two women in a knife attack at a shopping centre three years ago.

The High Court delivered its sentence on Tuesday, directing that the 43-year-old receive mandatory psychiatric treatment and supervision at Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre in Tuen Mun. The judge noted that Szeto continued to display limited insight into his mental ailment after killing two people for no logical reason.

Court accepts diminished responsibility

Szeto pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility. Prosecutors accepted that he should not be held liable for murder as he had experienced an acute relapse of paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the offence.

The attack occurred during a schizophrenic episode in 2023, when Szeto stabbed the two women to death in a frenzied assault at the shopping centre.

Chef praised for intervention

The presiding judge also praised a chef at the shopping centre who stopped the assailant and prevented him from leaving the scene until police arrived. The chef's intervention ensured Szeto remained at the location until authorities could take him into custody.

Szeto was working as a warehouse worker at the time of the incident.

Source: South China Morning Post