Hong Kong man jailed 3 years for hammer attack on associate who later died

Mo Tai-fung, 42, initially faced a murder charge, but prosecutors amended it after an autopsy found the victim had died from the effects of drugs

Hong Kong’s High Court has sentenced a man with a triad background to three years and two months after he attacked an associate with a hammer, leaving the victim bleeding on the street before he died of an overdose hours later.

The court heard on Tuesday that Mo Tai-fung, 42, was initially charged with murdering the 33-year-old, having allegedly struck him on the head 11 times at about 2am on July 28, 2024, outside a building on Pilkem Street in Yau Ma Tei.

Prosecutors amended the charge at an earlier hearing after an autopsy found that the victim, surnamed Pang, had died from the effects of drugs.

The report said that although Pang had multiple deep lacerations to his scalp, his injuries were not fatal.