Truancy and juvenile crime were high, various narcotics were widespread, and the Sun Yee On triad had a powerful grip over the area.
After years of juvenile delinquency and poor performance in school, Lam decided to drop out permanently at age 15.
She was a Yaohan department store assistant who was returning home from a mahjong game at 4:00 a.m. when she entered the elevator in the Yau Oi estate, where Lam followed her in.
In 1992, there had been seven murders and 16 reported rapes in Tuen Mun, but Sik Moh (Sex Devil) was the main focus of the authorities.
Marches and demonstrations were coordinated even though the six women who had been raped were ignored, and up to 20 people had stepped over Li Hing's body on the way to work before her murder was finally reported.
The police eventually employed the MIIDASS (Major Incident Investigation and Disaster Support System) computer which had been used in the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper.
22-year-old Mak Siu-han was a DJ returning home from a gig at the New World Hotel's Catwalk Disco at 5:00 a.m. She was found dead and sexually assaulted between the fifth and sixth floors of Hing Shing House where she lived at 7:45 a.m. Police estimated that up to 40 people may have stepped over her body before her death was reported.
All charges were committed during the course of the ten attacks perpetrated on women in the Tuen Mun and Hung Hom areas between 24 April 1992 and 4 August 1995.
Through the appeal, Dr. Connell claimed that Lam fit the criteria for a diagnosis of diminished responsibility due to his long-standing and consistent pattern of irresponsibility that was made worse by drinking too much, and that he would have had difficulty controlling his impulses and his aggression.