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SCMP Reporter

A MAN hid in China for four years to avoid arrest for possession of a loaded pistol, the High Court heard yesterday.

      The arrest of Tang Wing-ming, 40, on his return to the territory, led to the apprehension of Chan Yuk-ming, 38, the man who asked him to keep the weapon, the court heard.

 Both men had pleaded guilty to a joint charge of possession of arms and ammunition without a licence.

  Deputy Judge Bokhary sentenced Tang to six years and Chan to 61/2 years' jail.

  Prosecutor David McKenzie-Ross told the court that in the early morning of December 14, 1989, police raided a To Kwa Wan flat.

 In the room occupied by Tang, police found a pistol loaded with two bullets and a further three rounds of loose ammunition in a box hidden in the ceiling.

 Investigations revealed he had left for China three days before the raid and it was not until April 21 this year that he was arrested at Lowu when he returned to Hong Kong.

 Questioned by the police, he claimed that the pistol was given to him by Chan - who lived in another room in the same flat - at the end of October 1989 for temporary keeping and he only agreed to do so because he was afraid of him.

 When he was in China, Chan telephoned him, telling him that police had found the gun and asking him not to return to Hong Kong.

 According to Tang, Chan said in a later phone call that he would harm Tang's family if he told the police the truth.

  Counsel said Chan was arrested four days after Tang's return. Chan said his former business partner, Chan Chi-man, had left the pistol at the flat.

   Chan said he had asked Tang to keep the pistol until he found Chan Chi-man so that he could return it.

  Tang's counsel, Newman Wong, in mitigation, asked the court to view his client's case with compassion because he had been under a high degree of coercion.

  Mr Wong said it was more due to Tang's fear of Chan that he had stayed in China, where he lived as a fugitive knowing he would one day have to return and 'face the music'.

  Freddie Woon, for Chan, said his client had run a debt collecting agency with Chan Chi-man, who felt that a pistol would be useful in their job.

     Chan disagreed but when the agency split up, Chan Chi-man gave the weapon to Tang for him in his absence, counsel said.



Man hid in China for four years trying to avoid arrest