A Chinese man accused of murdering a Chinese student was found collapsed with blood on his wrists after an attempted suicide in a Belfast hostel six days after the killing, a jury at the Central Criminal Court heard yesterday.
Mr Hua Yu Feng (27), The Woods, Woodbrook Glen, Bray, Co Wicklow, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Ms Xiang Yi Wang (21), originally from Fuxing City, China, at Woodbrook Glen in Bray on July 4th, 2003. Ms Wang, known as Linda, had been living with a Chinese family in The Grove, Woodbrook Glen at the time.
The jury heard witness statements read to the court by prosecuting counsel, Ms Pauline Whalley.
In a statement by the manager of ARC Youth Hostel in Belfast, Paula Quigley, the court heard that the accused had booked into the hostel July 4th-10th. Ms Quigley received a phone call on July 10th that a suicide attempt had been made at the hostel.
"There was a lot of blood on the floor and bed of his [ Feng's] room, and he'd vomited on the centre of the floor," she said.
The accused, who had paid his accounts and "more or less kept to himself", had a half-eaten burger, a bottle of wine and knives in his room, said Ms Quigley.
Mr Liam Cutting, who was staying at the hostel on the night of July 10th, said he heard a "thud" and then saw Mr Feng lying on the floor. "At first I thought he was drunk," his statement read. Mr Cutting and a friend turned him around and saw blood on his wrists.
When the ambulance arrived, Mr Cutting said the accused struggled with the ambulance crew when they tried to help him. "They had to put him in straps," the court heard.
Mr Feng was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast and treated by Dr Peter Watson. In his statement, Dr Watson described the accused as "very uncommunicative" when he was admitted to the ward. "All he said was that he came from China and wanted to go back to China," Dr Watson said.
The doctor "could not determine if he was suicidal or not", the jury heard. "We all formed the impression that he was frightened of something and anxious," Dr Watson said in the statement.
The court has heard that Ms Wang was found dead with seven deep stab wounds on the morning of July 4th at a garden near her home in Bray.
The trial continues today before Mr Justice Butler.