A seven-member High Court jury has unanimously convicted a renovation worker of murdering a 48-year-old bus driver after a confrontation over smoking at Amoy Gardens in Kowloon Bay. The jury deliberated for more than four hours before the judge sentenced the 52-year-old defendant to life imprisonment.
The prosecution said the dispute began at about 11pm on 19 September 2023, when the bus driver objected to the worker smoking while they waited for a lift. Its case was that the worker followed him after they left the lift, punched him in the face and kicked his head after he fell.
The injured man reported the assault and was taken to United Christian Hospital, where he was treated and discharged the following day. After returning home, he vomited and became unconscious. His wife called an ambulance, and he was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, transferred to neurosurgery and underwent a craniectomy to relieve pressure in his skull.
His condition continued to worsen and he died on 1 October 2023. The reported cause of death was head injuries. His wife said he had told her they argued over smoking and that he was repeatedly kicked in the head after falling.
The defendant gave a different account to police before the victim died. He said he had been angered by an insult about his mother and claimed he had punched the bus driver twice and kicked him once. The judge described the case as tragic and said that, despite the defendant’s good background, the law required a life-imprisonment sentence.