Treorchy Chinese takeaway: Killed girl gentle and quiet soul, trial told

A mother has told a murder trial she did not understand why her 16-year-old daughter was killed.

Weijing Lin's mother, Meifang Xu, described her daughter as a "gentle and quiet soul", and she did not know why Chun Xu did what he did.

Chun Xu denies murdering the teenager but admits her manslaughter.

The 32-year-old also denies the attempted murder of her stepfather Yongquan Jiang but admits unlawful wounding.

Meifang Xu said her daughter "was a good girl, good at school and helped with the business. She was my only child."

She said that she had come downstairs into the takeaway basement to find it bloodstained. Her husband, Yongquan Jiang, was struggling with Chun Xu, who held a knife.

Shortly afterwards, the body of her daughter was found near the counter in the front of the takeaway shop. She had been strangled.

Meifang Xu described hearing her daughter get up and prepare for school before she fell back asleep, on 5 March.

When she woke up again, she found her husband was not in the room and she had a missed phone call from their visitor, Chun Xu.

Meifang Xu said she screamed when she went into the basement and found it covered in blood, with her husband holding Chun Xu's hands which contained a knife.

She said "Chun Xu had stabbed my husband many times, he was bleeding a lot".

She added that Chun Xu persuaded her husband that he was tired and would not struggle any more.

She tried to use the phone but she was grabbed by Chun Xu who bit her arm before smoking a cigarette and drinking some Cola, she said.

Meifang Xu said in her statement that Yongquan Jiang went upstairs before letting out a scream, saying "wife, come up quickly. Our daughter has also been assaulted by him and is unconscious"

She said she went up to the shop and saw her daughter laying still on the floor. She held her head, saying "baby, baby."

She noticed a mark on her daughter's neck and called out to Chun Xu "how cruel that you wouldn't stop until you savagely killed her like this".

Meifang Xu said she called friends and helped them get her daughter out of the takeaway where unsuccessful attempts to revive her were made.

She said she she returned to the takeaway and found Chun Xu with a large wound to his neck.

She was frightened and tried to keep the wound closed until a paramedic was able to help, she added.

She told the jury that she was not related to Chun Xu but had known him since he was born in China where their families lived opposite each other.

Meifang Xu said they had been in contact since they both moved to the UK, but their families became more distant after a disagreement over the lease of a different takeaway.

By September 2020, Meifang Xu said that Chun Xu had a business sending money back to China.

She said she gave him £30,000 in cash to send to family and friends in China, but he only sent £16,000 immediately and some small instalments following that.

She said Chun Xu gambled a lot and his mother paid some of his debts.

Before the events of 4 and 5 March, she said they hadn't had cross words, but she had chased him for her money and he kept putting her off.

On 4th March Meifang Xu said Chun Xu got in contact to say he was coming over to bring some money, but he didn't want anyone to know.

She said he looked exhausted when he arrived, but they had a pleasant evening before everyone went to bed.

They ate together, Chun Xu smoked and socialised with her husband. She said he asked to play cards with Wenjing Lin, but she didn't want to.

The following morning, she found Chun Xu struggling with her husband in the basement.

The trial continues.