Hong Kong man gets 5 years, 8 months jail for slashing ex-wife in her sleep

An elderly man has been jailed for five years and eight months for slashing his ex-wife in her sleep at a Hong Kong public rental flat in 2021 after a fierce argument over remarriage.

The High Court on Friday sentenced Cheung Ka-cheung, 69, for the “persistent and relentless” knife attack on his former spouse Zhang Cunhua at the pair’s residence in Ma On Shan’s Yiu On Estate on June 21, 2021.

The court heard the couple, who both worked as night shift security guards, married in 2009 and lived together at the flat with their daughter as well as Zhang’s son from her first marriage in mainland China.

The pair divorced in 2020 after frequent rows over living and financial matters, but decided to share the same roof nonetheless.

Zhang started asking Cheung to remarry her in May 2021, but the latter refused the offer under the suspicion she intended to take the flat away from him.

The couple clashed again over money and remarriage on the morning of June 21, after they both returned from work.

While sleeping, Zhang was awakened by a sharp pain in the head and right eye, only to see Cheung carrying a cleaver in one hand and a fruit knife in the other while crying “I’m going to chop you to death”.