Hong Kong man gets life sentence for murdering guard during restaurant break-in
Wong Shun-lam, who was in debt to loan sharks, committed crime at Kwun Tong restaurant where he had previously worked as a cook
A Hong Kong man has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering a security guard during a break-in at a restaurant more than five years ago.
Wong Shun-lam, 33, was sentenced in the High Court on Friday after standing trial earlier this month for intentionally killing Chan Chun-tai at the Dragon King Restaurant in Kwun Tong, where he previously worked as a cook.
The trial heard Wong, a jobless father of three, targeted the premises at Yen Sheng Centre in the hopes of getting enough cash to repay HK$40,000 (US$5,100) he had borrowed from loan sharks.
He first stole HK$1,000 from a drawer at the cashier on the evening of December 10, 2019, but was forced to leave after triggering an alarm.
Feeling dissatisfied, the defendant duped Chan, who was watching the building’s car park entrance, into letting him in during the early hours of the next day by telling the guard that the restaurant had been raided.
Wong led Chan to the restaurant and showed him a locked door that had been pried open, before attacking the deceased from behind just as the guard was about to tell his colleagues.