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Man murders girlfriend after she 'nagged him about his drug use'

A man murdered his partner because she was “nagging” him about his drug use, a Victorian Supreme Court has heard.

In a fit of ice-fuelled rage, Fook Ti-An Tang, 50, bashed his girlfriend, Lina Hwin, with a metal vacuum cleaner pole until she stopped talking.

Fook Ti-An Tang, left, has pleaded guilty to the murder of Lina Hwi at St Albans home in Melbourne's northwest.
Fook Ti-An Tang, left, has pleaded guilty to the murder of Lina Hwin. Source: 7 News

The mother-of-two was then stabbed in the face with a 73-centimetre-long sword and the weapon remained with Ms Hwin’s body until it was discovered three days later.

The 50-year-old man told police he was angry with his girlfriend because she was “nagging” him about his drug use.

The pair, who had been in an on-and-off again relationship for five years, had been squatting in a St Albans home, in Melbourne’s northwest.

Tang fled the property and tried to withdraw money from his partner’s account.

Tang faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for the murder of his girlfriend in Melbourne. Source: 7 News
Tang faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Source: 7 News

He was arrested in Richmond less than two weeks later and has pleaded guilty to murder.

Tang’s lawyer told the court it was not a financially-motivated crime, instead it resulted from the man’s ice addiction.

That argument was rejected by the judge who described the drug taking as an aggravating factor.

Ms Hwin leaves behind two sons.

Lina Hwin was Tang's on-and-off again girlfriend.
The 50-year-old man told police he was “angry” because his partner was “nagging” him about his drug use. Source: 7 News

“I really miss my mum, I miss my mum’s presence at family outings and I find it hard that she’s not there for me and my brother’s birthdays,” one of her sons said in court on Friday.

Tang was on bail at the time of the murder for other violent crimes, including threatening to kill Ms Hwin’s previous partner.

He was also serving a community corrections order.

The maximum penalty for murder is life in prison. Tang will learn his fate at a later date.