'Alleged Murder' at the Post Deng
In a story
that sounds too bizarre to be true, in early 2015 our Post Deng maître d' was
charged with murder, defensive homicide and manslaughter. The
incident occurred in a car park near the restaurant. Our maître
d' was placed in remand for the remainder of the year.
Unfortunately,
the quality of the service declined significantly and ultimately the restaurant closed
without warning. This left the Bookcellar no option but to find another venue.
We were pleased
to learn that the maître d' was found ‘not guilty’ of murder and the other charges – although we have not
seen him back at the new Post Deng. Rather than
paraphrase the story we attribute the excellent reporting of
Mark Russell from The Age.
Slain man's
family in tears as Chinatown's killer waiter bows to jury and walks free
Mark Russell
Court
Reporter for The Age
March 11 2016
A jury found Fai
Sing Yiu not guilty of murder and the lesser charges of defensive homicide and
manslaughter. Photo: Jesse Marlow
A Chinese
waiter accused of luring a 64-year-old disabled pensioner - who he claimed was
a feared criminal known as 'Scar Lin' - to his death in a Chinatown car park at
lunchtime has been found not guilty of murder.
Fai Sing
(Simon) Yiu, 59, claimed he was acting in self defence because his victim, Alan
Wong, was a loan shark and feared member of the 14K Triad Society based in Hong
Kong.
The Crown
case against Mr Yiu was that he had owed Mr Wong $24,000 and killed him in
October 2014 to get rid of the debt.
Crown prosecutor
Sharn Coombes told a Supreme Court jury there was no evidence to prove Mr Wong,
a loving, caring father of three, had been a senior crime gang figure.
The jury on
Friday found Mr Yiu not guilty of murder and the lesser charges of defensive
homicide and manslaughter.
Mr Yiu, who
was told by Justice Karin Emerton that he was free to go, bowed to the jurors
as they left the courtroom. Mr Wong's family burst into tears.
Defence
barrister Jarrod Williams told the jury it could not be disputed that Mr Wong
had been a loan shark.
"Now Mr
Yiu made his position very clear to the police [after his arrest]," Mr
Williams said.
"He
believed Alan Wong to be a senior member of the 14K Triad gang.
"It's a
Chinese version of the Mafia essentially. It's a criminal syndicate, if you
like, a mob. An underworld society.
"Mr Yiu
makes it plain he was frightened of Alan Wong.
"He
makes it plain that at the time he produced that knife and fought with Mr Wong
he believed it was necessary to do what he did to defend himself from being
killed or at the very least really seriously injured.
"He was
in fear of life and limb and he did what he believed he had to do in those
circumstances."
Mr Williams
said Mr Yiu told police he had heard Mr Wong was a senior member of the 14K
Triad Society.
"That's
his understanding of who Mr Wong was," the defence barrister said.
"He
wasn't a friend. He wasn't a business associate. He wasn't a work colleague. He
understands Alan Wong to have been a powerful criminal.
"He
understood that he had the nickname of Scar Lin. He says that he believed that
if he didn't make the repayments Mr Wong would send his brothers to get
him."
Ms Coombes
had claimed Mr Wong, who was carrying a plastic bag with his heart medication
when he went to see Mr Yiu, had never been a threat to the waiter on the day he
was killed in a "frenzied attack".
"Mr Yiu
lured Mr Wong to the car park that day, away from the people in the restaurant
[the Post Deng Cafe in Little Bourke Street where Mr Yiu worked] away from the
people on the street," Ms Coombes said.
"As he
removes his knife from his pocket, he does so calmly. He's not in a rush, he's
not in a panicked state ... he wasn't scared.
"He
wasn't threatened, he was fed up. He was trapped by his financial situation. He
did not want to pay any more money to Mr Wong."
Mr Yiu, a
waiter from Hong Kong who had been living illegally in Australia for more than
30 years, had initially borrowed $2000 from Mr Wong to gamble in 2007 and
continued to borrow more money from him despite being charged interest on the
loan until the debt reached $24,000.
Mr Yiu had
been paying Mr Wong back by depositing $270 a week into his TAB account but had
missed three consecutive repayments when he killed Mr Wong.
Ms Coombes
said it was fanciful to suggest Mr Wong, who had been plodding along behind Mr
Yiu wearing black plastic sandals before being attacked, was a feared member of
the 14K Triad Society.
"The
fact that he loaned Mr Yiu money and he had a TAB account, is this the criteria
for a secret double life?" the prosecutor asked.
"Well
heaven help half of society then I say. Just because his daughters and wife
were unaware of these two things does not equate to Mr Wong having a secret
double life."
The
prosecutor said yes, more than $112,000 had been deposited into Mr Wong's TAB
account over a seven-year period, but a chart of his betting activity revealed
a total of 3393 bets being placed over this time.
"Are we
talking about a big Triad society member here placing huge bets or is it simply
a case of an old man getting a bit of enjoyment on a Saturday afternoon having
a $1.50 bet each way?" Ms Coombes asked.
"His
betting habits seem to fit within his meagre means. This is a hobby that his
family were aware of yet just didn't actually know that he had an
account."
