The arrest yesterday of three burglars making off with a safe from a Sheung Shui flat involved the loss of a police baton, the drawing of a police handgun and a chase that ended in a five-vehicle pile-up. The drama began when police spotted two men moving the safe outside Sunningdale Garden in Chi Shun Lane. They arrested a 27-year-old man, but a 33-year-old man tried to snatch an officer's firearm. The man grabbed his baton instead, and the officer drew his handgun to subdue the burglar. An accomplice tried to flee in a Mercedes-Benz but was arrested after he caused a pile-up with two police vans, a bus and a car at the junction of Jockey Club Road and Lung Sum Avenue. The suspects had snatched jewellery and cash worth HK$156,000 but it was all recovered at the site.
An application for bail by a 78-year-old man accused of raping a schoolgirl 26 years ago was denied by the Court of First Instance. Mrs Justice Verina Bokhary cited the serious nature of the charge against Man Lok-fai, who was arrested after his alleged victim saw him in the street and called police. Man has not entered a plea and will appear in Fanling Court today.
Legco welfare panel lawmakers passed a non-binding motion urging the government to take into account expected future price movements when adjusting the rate of the dole, rather than just the inflation or deflation of the past year.