A Chinese restaurant owner was cleared yesterday of the contract killing of his pregnant lover.
Mr "Jimmy" Wing Chun Yuen, a father of two, denied arranging for a friend, Mr Siu Ching Wong, to come from Hong Kong to murder his girlfriend, Ms "Candy" Mi Yi Ho, three years ago.
Ms Ho, who was 18 weeks pregnant, was found strangled on June 9th, 1998, in her home in Isoline Street, east Belfast, by Mr Yuen, of Winchester Park, Carryduff.
Belfast Crown Court judge Mr Justice McLaughlin directed the jury to acquit Mr Yuen of aiding, abetting, counselling and procuring Ms Ho's murder. Mr Yuen was cleared following a successful application by his defence team that he had no case to answer.
The prosecution alleged that Mr Yuen's motive for the contract killing of his mistress was because she became unexpectedly pregnant at the same time as his wife, that he would have to pay Ms Ho more money and that she was pressuring him to divorce his wife.
But Mr Justice McLaughlin said Ms Ho, a waitress receiving state benefit, had bank accounts in 11 banks, including four in Hong Kong and China, and knew her alleged killer Mr Wong from Hong Kong, making him an unlikely choice of hit man.