William Yau's inquest: Death by misadventure

The coroner today returned a verdict of death by misadventure in the inquest into the death of six-year-old William Yau Zhen Zhong.

Coroner Mohd Hezri Shaharil said that the court was of the opinion that Yau had accidentally slipped and fell into a drain, and hit his head on the concrete before dying.

"Yau is found to have accidentally fell into a drain near Jalan Putra Mahkota, Putera Height, Subang and received injuries which caused his death," said Mohd Hezri when delivering his findings.

“The deceased had accidentally slipped and his head hit on a concrete of the drain and met his end before being swept away by the current from the drain to Sungai Klang near Port Klang."

Mohd Hezri, in his 14-page judgement, ruled out criminal elements including that of the parents. He also ruled out kidnap and murder, as well as abuse.

However, the judgement did not rule out that it was negligence by the parents that led to Yau’s tragic end.

In explaining the evidence that led to the court's conclusion on the cause of death, Mohd Hezri ruled that the court had ruled out the other two possibility put forth by forensic expert: namely that Yau was hit on the head or drowned before dying.

He said that the theory that the deceased fell into a 70x100 metre drain near the vehicle where he was last seen was never disproved by any witness. The area was also wet and slippery, and dark at the time, Mohd Hezri added.

Another aspect that the court looked at was Yau’s maturity, and the coroner said that “a boy of his age would more often make mistakes because of his lack of maturity.”

“This court does not dismiss the possibility that on that night, the deceased had got out of the vehicle after being left by his parents and walked towards that field.

Mohd Hezri also ruled out the theory of kidnap and murder despite statements from the family about ransom calls.

“The court rules out the theory that the deceased was kidnapped and killed seeing as to how the calls and SMSes were made quite late compared to the time of death,” said the coroner.

He also found that the first called received by the mother, seeking a RM80,000 ransom, was believed to have been made after the boy has died. Police had also investigated and charged an individual for making prank calls.

Another theory that Mohd Hezri ruled out was Yau was abused before he was killed.

“This theory was dismissed through the testimony of the forensic pathologist as there were no repeated pattern of injuries.”

He said the deceased’s grandmother had also testified that she had initially made up stories about how the father had beat the child.

Mohd Hezri said that Yau's time of death was about one or two days during the time he went missing on Jan 16. On the location of his death, Mohd Hezri said that the court could not reach a conclusive finding but conclude that Yau died somewhere else other than where his body was found at Kampung Sungai Sireh, Port Klang.

Mohd Hezri ruled that according to the evidence by the pathologist, the wound that caused Yau’s death was a strong back of the head.

Other scars-- including one on the forehead, and a broken rib-- were old and did not lead to the boy’s death, according to the pathologist, he said. Bite marks believed to been caused by animals such as lizards or other predatory animals, also was not the cause of Yau's death.

Yau went missing on Jan 16 and was found dead after a week in the Klang River.

The inquest was initiated more than three months ago on March 11 after police investigation could not determine Yau's cause of death.

A total of 21 witnesses, including Yau's family, were called to testify. Deputy public prosecutor Lee Keng Fatt assisted the inquest.

Following the verdict, the Yau parents Yau Kok Kang, 38, and Goh Ying Ying, 26 were seen in tears and did not respond to media queries outside the courtroom. Both wore surgical masks, and merely nodded politely to reporters as they walked out of the court.

However, their lawyer Goh Kim Lian, who represented the family as watching brief, told reporters that the family is satisfied by the decision.

"At least now they can move forward. The entire proceeding was very thorough and every angle was looked at by the court," she said.