A warped man who kept an arsenal of weapons at home and ordered his wife to massacre members of her family has been detained indefinitely under a hospital order.

Hon Cheong Chu would go out armed and even made his wife Lydie go to work in her Maidstone shop with a gun on one occasion.

Mrs Chu put up with constant domestic abuse from her husband before finally confiding in friends.

It led to a police raid on their home in Tarragon Road, Barming, and the seizure of the deadly weapons - including a Magnum handgun - and ammunition.

Imposing the hospital order under the Mental Health Act, Judge Philip Statman said: “I have absolutely no doubt, having heard the evidence given at trial by your wife that during the time these offences were committed she was absolutely petrified of you.”

Chu, 57, was convicted last month of soliciting murder, 12 offences of possessing expanding ammunition, two of assault causing actual bodily harm, four of possessing a prohibited firearm, making a threat to kill, possessing a disguised firearm and possessing a firearm without a certificate.

"I have absolutely no doubt, having heard the evidence given at trial by your wife that during the time these offences were committed she was absolutely petrified of you" - Judge Philip Statman, to Chu

A jury at Maidstone Crown Court heard “dominant and controlling” Chu ordered his wife to kill herself after wiping out her mother, sister, her husband and their son in Hong Kong.

He also declared he would kill their own son if she failed.

Mrs Chu endured 20 years of domestic abuse before she finally confided in a friend, Kirsty Gwaspari, whose stepfather was a retired police officer.

Police marksmen then raided the couple’s three-storey home and seized six firearms, a large amount of expanding ammunition, swords and a garrotte.

“Her husband was absolutely dominant and controlling,” said Mr O’Higgins. “He hated her and her family. He demanded absolute obedience. He had a collection of firearms. She lived in fear of him.

“He developed a morbid obsession with killing her family in Hong Kong. She kept hoping he would relent, but it was apparent he was deadly serious.”

Following conviction, two psychiatrists concluded Chu was suffering from “persistent delusional disorder” and recommended his continued detention in Priory Thornford Park Hospital at Crookham Hill, Berkshire.

His QC Oliver Saxby said Chu had deluded himself that there was nothing wrong with him. If sent to prison he would stop taking his medication and deteriorate.

Judge Statman said although he accepted Chu’s mental illness led to him committing the offences, it may not have been the case when he originally brought firearms into the country from the USA.

“We must be very careful because we live in troubled times,” he said.

“If you have a man who has stockpiled weapons at home and he happens to be burgled, one can never know where they will end up.”

The judge said Chu’s control over his wife was so great that he tried to persuade her to murder her family in Hong Kong.

“No doubt due to her loyalty she found it almost impossible to convey her feelings and her concerns to anyone else.

“But gradually, over the passage of time, she received considerable support from those who owned shops in the arcade where she had a shop.

“Eventually, she was persuaded that contact needed to be made with police.”

Judge Statman said ordinarily the only option for the court would be to impose an extended jail sentence. But it was clear Chu remained mentally unwell.

“I have satisfied myself, and the public should understand this, that there are very important issues of security that will attach to you stay at Thornford Park Hospital,” he told Chu.

"Hon Cheong Chu is a manipulative man who controlled his victim over many years" - Det Con Christopher Waterfall

A restraining order was made banning Chu from any contact with his estranged wife, who has since returned to Hong Kong to live.

After the sentencing, Detective Constable Christopher Waterfall said: "Hon Cheong Chu is a manipulative man who controlled his victim over many years, to the extent that his threat to harm someone close to her if she did not kill her own family was one she did not take lightly.

"The operation to arrest him was meticulously planned by highly skilled specialist officers with the safety of residents at the heart of every decision made.

"The fact Chu was found with a number of loaded weapons in his possession proved just how important it was to take every precaution necessary in taking him safely into custody.

"Chu is clearly a dangerous man and I am pleased he will now serve a lengthy period in a mental health institution where he is no longer a risk to his victim or other members of the public.

"I would also like to pay tribute to his victim, who showed great courage in speaking out and ensuring Chu was brought to justice."