Son of retired top judge held for allegedly assaulting girlfriend in Peak apartment

The youngest son of retired Appeals Court judge Woo Kwok-hing, Alan Woo, has been arrested for allegedly beating his girlfriend in their Peak home.

Police said they received a report at 1am yesterday from a friend of the woman who was allegedly attacked.

Sources said the injured woman was 34-year-old Cheung Lei-wah, formerly known as Zhang Lihua.

They said she was injured after an argument with her lawyer boyfriend, 42-year-old Woo, in their upscale apartment at Orient Crest on Peak Road

Woo is alleged to have pushed Cheung to the floor after an argument. Then Woo left the apartment to seek medical attention at the private Matilda International Hospital on the Peak, according to sources.

A friend of Cheung had happened to video call her afterwards and helped her make a report to police.

When officers arrived at the Peak home they found Cheung had sustained injuries to her forehead, left ankle and foot and right thumb.

She also appeared to be intoxicated and was sent to the public Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam for treatment.

Woo returned to the Peak apartment two hours later and was arrested for assault occasioning actual bodily harm. But he denied assaulting Cheung and said she had been drunk and fell on her own.

Woo was later released on police bail pending a further investigation and will have to report to police in mid-April. Police also said officers were unable to record a statement from Cheung due to her degree of intoxication.

Officers added that the case was classified as assault, and an investigation by the Central criminal investigation unit was under way.

Alan Woo and Cheung had been dating for two years after being introduced by a mutual friend.

Then four months ago she moved into Woo's Peak apartment, which he has been renting since 2019.

It is understood Cheung is the ex-wife of TVB actor Marco Ngai Chun-kit. They had married in 2008 but divorced in 2020. They share a daughter.

Sources said that the incident occurred at a time that Woo was trying to break off from Cheung and she had become emotional after drinking alcohol as she tried to save the relationship.

Woo is an assistant solicitor at his uncle Woo Kwok-yin's law firm and is involved in civil and criminal litigation, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, commercial cases and mainland-related matters.

He was also a member of the seventh and eighth China People's Consultative Conference of the Maoming municipality of Guangdong, the 10th Jiangsu Province All China Youth Federation and other youth associations. His father lost in the chief executive election in 2017 after retiring as a judge. He ran against Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor - the ultimate winner - and former financial secretary John Tsang Chun-wah.

Woo was only able to secure 21 votes among 1,194 Election Committee members.

That was the lowest number of votes for a chief executive candidate since the handover. Before retiring in 2012, Woo was vice president of the Court of Appeal.

He also served as the first chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission from 1993 to 2006.

He was awarded the Grand Bauhinia Medal in 2002 for his significant contribution as chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission.