A 'devoted' father joined a family suicide pact and gassed his young children to death after the household ran out of money.
Chan Ying-cheung, 41, was the sole survivor of September's Tsuen Wan tragedy that killed six people. It was the fifth time he had survived a suicide bid.
'It's the sort of situation normally associated with religious cults,' defence barrister Michael Poll told the Court of First Instance, adding the five adult members opted for suicide, because 'they could not cope with the pressures of modern life.' With no money left for food the next day, three-year-old Chin-pong and his sister On-yee, four, were fed milk spiked with sleeping pills so they would not suffer when the gas took effect.
Their parents, half-brother and two uncles had decided the pair should not live as orphans.
Although the flat had been made airtight, Chan said the children knew nothing of the plan, because 'they might be scared if told they were going to die'.
Mr Poll described Chan, an immigrant from Fujian, as 'an affectionate, kind and loving husband, one who was devoted to his children'.
'He hears the voices of his loved ones asking why he hasn't followed them,' Mr Poll said, adding the former factory worker prays for death and was horrified when he awoke in hospital.
Weeping, Chan yesterday admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Mr Justice Michael Wong Kin-chow sentenced him to an indefinite stay at Siu Lam psychiatric centre.
The court heard how on September 22, the family bought sleeping pills and a rubber hose. They sealed the windows, doors and air-conditioners of the flat in Tai Yuan House, Tsuen Wan Centre, with plastic bags and adhesive tape.
The final decision was made the following day over supper. 'They decided to commit suicide because they had no money for the next day,' Mr Poll said.
Chan's cousins Wong Wing-fat, 32, and Cheung Shuk-leung, 40, and eldest son Chan Sik-lun, 21, were unemployed and mired in debt.
His wife, Ng Shuk-yee, 29, wanted to 'follow her husband' into death.
When Chan's first marriage failed, he took a drug overdose, leapt 14 storeys, took poison and crashed his motorcycle.
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