Hong Kong - A
Hong Kong baker stole human skulls from graves to pay off his mother's
gambling debts after being told he could sell them in Malaysia, a court report published Thursday claimed. Ip Kuok-weng and three friends took the skulls of a young woman, elderly man and an elderly woman from tombs in the New Territories in mid-February this year.
The court was told Ip committed the offence after friends showed him an internet posting from
Malaysia offering to pay 10,000 Hong Kong dollars (1,300 US dollars) for human skulls.
However, later Ip showed remorse and turned himself in to police, handing in the skulls wrapped in three pieces of black cloth, said the report in the South
China Morning Post.
Ip, 21, appeared in court Wendesday pleading guilty to removing human remains from an urn without permission and one count of attempting to remove human remains without permission.
His solicitor said he had committed the offences because he needed money to repay his mother's gambling debts.
In sentencing, Magistrate Eddie Yip Chor-man said the crime was very serious as it had been committed for
financial gain. However, he reduced the sentence by two months because Ip had assisted police.
Two others were acquitted of the similar charges after pleading not guilty.
