Two men jailed 30 and 24 months over suspects’ switcheroo at West Kowloon Court

A 38-year-old man was slapped with a two-and-a-half-year term on Wednesday over a switcheroo at West Kowloon Court last April, in which he used the identity wristband of a 25-year-old man who was granted bail to escape from the court building. 

The younger man was also jailed for two years as the duo appeared before judge Lily Wong Sze-lai at the District Court and both pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice. 

The two defendants are chef Chan Shu-wa, 38, and unemployed Lam King-ho, 25. Chan also admitted to escaping from legal custody and using a document belonging to others, and Lam to unlawfully transferring a document to another. 

In sentencing, Wong said the court must send a clear message to the public that behaviors which intentionally abuse the criminal procedures are not welcomed and must not be tolerated. 

She also blasted the duo for disregarding the law and their plan involving soliciting and accepting an advantage, which could have been a huge blow to the public’s faith in judicial justice had they succeeded. Although they didn’t pay or receive any bribes, the two did make a very corrupt arrangement, she noted. 

The court earlier heard that Chan and Lam appeared at West Kowloon Court on April 10 last year for a drug trafficking case and an assault case respectively. Chan was remanded in custody and Lam was granted bail. 

Around 12.56 pm that day, police summoned Lam to proceed his bail application with Chan claiming to be Lam several times, displaying the relevant document and Lam’s identity wristband. 

The officer then checked the wristband provided by Chan and compared the faces of Chan and Lam on the identity card receipt, allowing Chan to leave after finding no abnormality. 

Police later found that Lam had not yet left and asked him to display his identity document, to which Lam replied he had given it to another suspect in the same cell. 

Chan was intercepted by police in Yau Ma Tei three days later. Under police caution, he said he wanted to search for evidence to prove his innocence and misled police into releasing him. Chan also admitted that he proactively approached Lam for his name and identity card number, offering Lam a HK$20,000 reward for playing along with the switcheroo plan. 

Lam agreed and exchanged phone numbers with Chan as well as their identity wristbands and documents. He also admitted that he had never called Chan and he never got paid. 

In mitigation, the defense counsel for Lam said that he heard about Chan’s triad background in prison and agreed to the plan as he worried that he would receive revenge from Chan for turning down his offer.