Unemployed Law Wai-man was charged with murdering his 34-year-old girlfriend surnamed Lau in a flat at Po Kim House, Po Lam Estate in Tseung Kwan O on March 17, 2019. The jury comprised of five women and three men all found Law guilty after around five hours of deliberations on Wednesday.

An autopsy found 101 bruises covering Lau's body, and 14 of her ribs had been cracked. The cause of death was a fatal blow to the chest with a blunt instrument. Her death was sped up by the consumption of methamphetamine, also known as “ice”.

When passing the sentence, Judge Johnny Chan Jong-herng rejected the defense that Law committed the murder as he was provoked by Lau. Chan said this reason could hardly stand as Law knew Lau took drugs and suffered from mental illness.

Chan added that Law must also bear the consequence for his actions after consuming drugs. Chan also pointed out that Law didn't rectify his addiction all these years and whether he can complete rehabilitation depends on his choices.

Chan referred to the mitigation letters penned by relatives and a pastor that he understood their care for Law but noted Law did cruelly murder Lau and cause trauma to Lau's family.

Chan also slammed Law for “repaying kindness with hatred” as he murdered Lau, who let Law move into the Tseung Kwan O flat when he was wanted by police. Law tied Lau up and continuously beat her when she could not fight back.

The court earlier heard that Law had 10 criminal records from seven past cases, including burglary, assault occasioning bodily harm, indecent assault, and criminal intimidation. He had been fined, handed a probation order, and even previously jailed.