A Hong Kong merchant has been jailed for five years and four months for attempting to murder his wife and three daughters by burning charcoal in their public rental flat after struggling to repay debts totalling nearly HK$900,000 (US$115,000).

The High Court on Monday sentenced Wong Pak-ting in what the presiding judge described as a “tragic” case.

The 45-year-old pleaded guilty in May to four counts of attempted murder after spiking food and drinks prepared for his family with sleeping pills and then trying to kill them and himself at their home in Tuen Mun’s Shan King Estate on June 25, 2024.

Wong told police he had been receiving psychiatric treatment for depression since March that year, as he struggled to keep his food distribution business afloat despite borrowing money from friends and financial institutions.

He said he wanted to end his life and that of his family because he feared they would be harassed by debt collectors, although no such harassment had occurred before the offence.

Wong crushed about 10 sleeping pills into powder and added them to the beef noodles he prepared for his family that evening. He also put the equivalent of two pills into each of five bubble tea drinks he bought for his wife, children and himself.