A woman who set fire to her family home earlier this year after she couldn’t find her personal items or reach her estranged husband on the telephone was sentenced to two years in jail today.
The defendant, a 30-year-old woman surnamed Liu, pleaded guilty to one charge of arson, HK01 reports.
Liu and her husband, who moved to Hong Kong from mainland China in 2014, had been having marital issues and intended to divorce, District Court heard.
Liu reportedly moved out of the Mong Kok flat they shared with their two sons, aged three and nine, in January. When she visited the family apartment on March 3, Liu said she could not find some of her personal belongings.
Believing that her husband had moved them, Liu telephoned him 26 times, but said he didn’t answer any of her calls. Finally, she rang her mother-in-law, and reportedly said, “If your son doesn’t answer his phone, I’m going to start a fire.”
She unsuccessfully tried to light a blanket on fire before setting fire to a piece of paper in the middle of apartment and leaving. The 30-year-old reportedly “immediately regretted her actions” and called 999 to put the fire out, but failed to get through three times as the hotline was busy.
During sentencing today, deputy judge Bina Chainrai said Liu was lucky that nobody was harmed and that no serious property damage was caused, considering that their small flat contained a lot of items and is in a multi-storey building.
In light of Liu’s “premeditated crime” and the potentially devastating consequences of arson, Chainrai sentenced her to two years’ imprisonment.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been updated.
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