Off-duty cop convicted of perverting the course of justice for telling crash victim not to file police report

An off-duty cop will be sentenced next Thursday after he was found guilty on Friday for perverting the course of justice as he attempted to persuade a crash victim whom he had hit in Cheung Sha Wan not to report to the police in May 2022. 

The defendant Ho Ka-wing, 27, had earlier pleaded guilty to drunk driving, dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm, and driving a defective vehicle for the crash that occurred on May 28, 2022. 

Passing down the verdict at the District Court today,  judge Ada Yim Shun-yee referred to the consistency of the testimony given by the victim surnamed Chan and the dashcam footage, saying that Ho was seen on his phone after seeing injured Chan on the ground. 

Ho only kept saying he was sorry and asked: “Can we not call the police?” despite having the phone in his hand. The only irresistible conclusion is that Ho had no intent at all to report to the police, judge Yim said. 

Yim also noted that when waiting for an ambulance, Ho had continuously tried to lure Chan with money to persuade him to not tell the police anything else apart from him needing treatment.

Yim then ruled the prosecution successfully proved their case without any reasonable doubt and found Ho guilty of perverting the course of justice. 

In mitigation, defense counsel Robert Lam Chiu-kit said the nature of this case was mild compared similar cases and hoped the court would allow some of the sentences to run concurrently. 

He also submitted commendation letters from the police force, mitigation letters by family members and Ho’s volunteering records. 

Chan is remanded in custody awaiting his sentence to be handed down next Thursday (Apr 25). 

Also read: Off-duty cop denies asking crash victim to not call police, admits to dangerous driving