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Cliff Buddle

TYCOON Albert Yeung Sau-shing was acquitted yesterday after a magistrate ruled he had no case to answer on an allegation of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

  Mr Yeung, 50, chairman of the Emperor Group, was accused of trying to stop a witness from giving evidence against him in an earlier trial.

   But Magistrate Jonathan Acton-Bond said it was wrong to point the finger of suspicion at Mr Yeung alone.

  It seemed people were 'falling over themselves' to stop the witness, Michael Lam Yih-jiun, giving evidence against Mr Yeung, he said.

  'There are many, many other people about whom I would have suspicions in relation to this other case,' Mr Acton-Bond added.

  Before driving away from Western Court in his gold Rolls-Royce, Mr Yeung said: 'I am very happy that justice has been done.'   John Griffiths QC, defending, made an application for $5,000 in costs - the maximum allowable - but Mr Acton-Bond rejected the bid saying he had 'rather more sympathy' with the prosecution after reading further statements.

     The magistrate halted the trial halfway saying there was no prospect of Mr Yeung being convicted.

  He said he could not rely on the evidence of the three main prosecution witnesses.

  One, Mr Yeung's business rival, Tse Tak-ching, had told far too many obvious lies, he said.

  'I really would not believe a word he told me,' said Mr Acton-Bond.

  The magistrate said he could not be sure whether the prime prosecution witness, Jacky Man Lun-chi, was telling the truth about essential parts of the case.

  The third witness, David Chan Liu-chuen, had been 'positively parsimonious with the truth', he said.

  It is the second time Mr Yeung has been cleared in the space of five months.

  The earlier trial, in which he was accused of criminal intimidation and false imprisonment, collapsed in May after five prosecution witnesses failed to recall details of the alleged offences.

  Michael Lam was the prime Crown witness in that case but said he was frightened of giving evidence and was suffering memory loss.

  Mr Acton-Bond said: 'It is natural that people reading about that other trial will have their suspicions. But in Hong Kong we do not try cases on the basis of suspicions, we try cases on the basis of evidence.'   The magistrate likened the Crown case to a horse and cart. The horse was the evidence and the cart the inferences drawn from it.

  He said the cart had gone off the road and the horse was limping along so badly he had to shoot it in order to put it out of its misery.

  Since the third or fourth day, Mr Acton-Bond had been waiting for the prosecution case to improve.

  'It never seemed to improve beyond that time. Instead, it seemed to get worse,' he said.

  The case centred on a meeting between Mr Yeung and businessman Jacky Man on January 11.

  It was alleged Mr Yeung induced Mr Man to arrange for Mr Lam to not give evidence in the criminal intimidation trial with one witness suggesting $30 million would buy Lam's silence.

  Mr Man was granted immunity from prosecution in return for giving evidence against Mr Yeung.

  The defence pointed out Mr Yeung reported Mr Man's approach to the ICAC and was then equipped to secretly record further meetings.

  Mr Acton-Bond said: 'I have absolutely no doubt that Jacky Man went to the defendant's house knowing that he was a man in severe difficulties and hoping to get financial advantage for himself and his associates.' 



Emperor boss walks free again