Tutor jailed 27 years for shooting-murder plot

A male tutor has been jailed for 27 years for conspiracy to murder after giving three handguns and ammunition to a woman friend to kill a man who scammed him.

High Court judge Susana Maria D'Almada Remedios said Stephen So Hon-to, 31, took advantage of the innocence of his friend, Chak Wing-sze, as he tried to remotely control her to execute his carefully crafted murder plan.

So was convicted of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to possess firearms and ammunition without a valid license for ordering the 21-year-old Chak, whom he met online, to kill Terrence Lam.

He taught Chak how to fire and provided her with three handguns and 500 rounds of live bullets between March 2018 and January 2019.

So told the court that he wanted to kill Lam after he cheated him of money.

D'Almada Remedios said So used others to execute his plan, while keeping himself at a distance from the crime. She also said So and Chak tried to execute their plan but failed as police arrested them and located the firearms. She stressed it was fortunate that police stepped in when they did and praised the officers for their good work.

D'Almada Remedios believed that So posed a grievous threat to society and must be punished heavily. She sentenced him the maximum term of 14 years for conspiracy to possess firearm and ammunition without a valid license and 27 years for conspiracy to murder, with both terms running concurrently.

Chak, who earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing firearms without a valid license, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years behind bars after becoming a witness for the prosecution.

The court was told that So and Chak, both war game enthusiasts, met on social media in 2016.

In November 2018, So told Chak that he wanted to kill Lam and ordered her to tail Lam. He also instructed Chak to buy various types of chemicals, saying that the mixture could be used to create a homemade bomb.

The court heard that So had given Chak three handguns and 500 bullets and took her to an abandoned school campus in Tai Po to test the weapons out. There he fired a shot at a wooden board and asked Chak to leave.

So also instructed Chak to gun down Lam at the end of 2018, instructing her to shoot him three times both in the head and body.

So was arrested at the airport when he was planning to head to Japan with his girlfriend on December 31, 2018, and was later found with firearms.

Officers found a bullet hole near an abandoned school campus in Tai Po on January 1, 2019. Officers also later seized a handgun and 49 bullets at Chak's place on the same day.