Legal hangover for Tanya Chan

Former lawmaker Tanya Chan and a restaurant alliance's convener stood trial in a Kowloon City magistrates' court yesterday for breaching social distancing measures in a bar gathering last year.

They allegedly joined a gathering in breach of the social gathering cap at Hands bar on Tai Nan Street in Sham Shui Po last April 2.

Chan, 49, and Hong Kong Small and Middle Restaurant Federation convener Gordon Lam Sui-wa, 36, pleaded not guilty.

Their codefendant, bar owner Chan Wai-choi, 32, pleaded not guilty to failure to comply with directions for catering business operators for allegedly letting people enter without taking temperatures and allowing more than four persons to share a table.

He also denied operating a place where prohibited group gatherings take place.

The prosecution told magistrate Cheng Lim-chi three witnesses would testify. Cheng issued an arrest warrant for Ng Cho-kan, a witness who refused to testify.

Pun Mei-mei, one of the three witnesses, said she was with a friend at a store next to the bar while her friend Ng was eating at the bar.

Pun said she noticed around 25 to 30 people "flood into the bar" after 11pm, and some people were smoking and chatting at the door of the bar.

"I could not believe so many people would enter the bar and the bar allowed them to do so," Pun said.

Pun said she was observant about the goings-on at the bar as she was concerned about Covid-19 transmissions.

"We all believed it was necessary to report the case to the police," Pun said, adding she called the police at 11.40pm.

Pun said she then saw a woman entering the bar alone and there was a cheer.

"My gut feeling was that she was Tanya Chan," Pun said.

Pun called her friends in the bar and urged them to leave, saying the bar had violated the social distancing measures and she had called the police.

But the defense took Pun to task for lying to the police as she told officers her surname was Wong and did not reveal her real name until officers took her statement three weeks later.

Pun admitted using a fake surname when reporting the case to the police, but stressed she did not lie.

"I thought I needed to protect my identity," Pun said. "I saw such a sensitive person, Miss Chan, at such a sensitive place, it was only human nature to protect myself."

The trial continues today.