Taxi driver murder trial to be retried after deadlock
SingTao · 2 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago5 MIN
Summary
A High Court judge has discharged the jury and ordered a retrial after jurors failed to reach a valid verdict in the case of a taxi driver who was fatally stabbed in the neck in Sai Wan in 2021. The 35-year-old defendant, Choi Nam-sang (蔡南生), denies murdering 48-year-old taxi driver Wai Kim-hung (韋劍雄), while the defence argues he was suffering from schizophrenia and should be liable only for manslaughter by diminished responsibility.
Key Points
- After a 22-day trial, a seven-member jury of five women and two men deliberated for more than 16 hours but could not reach a valid verdict, leading Justice Judianna Barnes Wai-ling to discharge them and fix the case for retrial.
- Choi Nam-sang, now 35 and unemployed, denies murdering Wai Kim-hung on 12 October 2021 in Hong Kong; the case is listed as HCCC150/2024 in the High Court.
- The prosecution said the victim was driving along Eastern Street in Sai Ying Pun at about 4:50am when Choi boarded outside the HE Hotel carrying a knife and a cleaning towel.
- Prosecutors alleged Choi stabbed the driver in the neck immediately after getting into the taxi, then fled; the driver got out, shouted for help, collapsed beside the cab and died after hospital treatment around 6am.
- A defence psychiatrist said Choi had shown psychotic symptoms from age 20, suffered persecutory delusions and schizophrenia, and was mentally abnormal at the time, supporting a diminished responsibility manslaughter verdict.
Why It Matters
The retrial means the case will return to the High Court, extending proceedings in a serious homicide involving a public transport worker and a contested psychiatric defence.
How a new jury assesses the mental health evidence will be central to whether the case ends in a murder conviction or a lesser verdict of manslaughter by diminished responsibility.