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| The Appeal Court may reduce the charge and sentence on Andrea Bay's killer on the ground of insanity |
The Court of Appeal is looking to downgrade the murder
conviction of a Pakistani guard to manslaughter for killing his 25-year-old
Austrian-Filipina girlfriend nearly four years ago in Tuen Mun, on the ground
of insanity.
Justice Andrew Macrae said at the continuation of the appeal
hearing on Apr 9 of convicted killer Safdar Husnain, that he and fellow Justices
Ian McWalters and Derek Pang are eyeing a reduction of the appellant’s life sentence
to 10 years.
“We want an updated psychiatric report from [government
psychiatrist] Dr Chow about the diminished responsibility of the applicant by
reason of insanity” before finalizing the verdict, Justice Macrae said.
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The justices want to have by Apr 30 the updated psychiatric
report from Chow addressing his current mental state and the damage he could do
to the public if he was released.
Justice Macrae also asked the prosecutor to submit on May 4 a
new medical report on the 30-year-old convict, who has been held in jail since
the gruesome killing of Andrea Bayr in the early hours of Mar 29, 2016 at a bridge
construction site.
Husnain was sentenced to life in jail by Judge Kevin Zervos
on Jan 31, 2018 after he was convicted of murder by a jury voting 6-1.
At the appeal hearing, Justice Macrae asked the prosecutor if
he had any court in mind in case the justices allowed an appeal.
The prosecutor said none, adding that a retrial would not be
necessary, citing a provision in Section 83 of the High Court rules.
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Barrister David Boyton, counsel of the appellant, agreed. He
had asserted that the appropriate verdict was manslaughter due to Husnain’s brain
damage arising from drug use.
During the murder trial in late 2017, the defense claimed
that Husnain had been suffering from a drug-induced psychosis in which he had
been hearing voices telling him Bayr, a bartender, was a witch who wanted to
kill him.
The defense based its appeal on the ground that Judge Zervos did not due consideration to the ground of insanity in his direction to the jury.
