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A couple acquitted yesterday of forging a $3 million Mark Six ticket said they would continue their fight for the cash.

  The prosecution collapsed when the Crown offered no evidence against photo-finishing firm proprietor Yu Ming-yam, 34, and his wife, Au Yang Pui-man, 28.

  They had denied one charge each of attempting to obtain the prize by deception and using a false instrument.

  The court heard the couple took a ticket to the Jockey Club headquarters in Sports Road on June 10 last year and tried to claim the Mark Six first prize worth $2,892,540, drawn two days previously.

  But only two of the six winning numbers on the front of the ticket matched the numbers printed on the back by the Jockey Club's validating machine.

  The other four losing bets on the same ticket showed no errors. The club ruled the ticket was invalid.

  Government chemist Dr Li Chi-keung told the court it was 'highly probable' the couple had written random numbers on a piece of Sellotape and stuck it on the ticket.

  The club's validating machine would have read the numbers and accepted the ticket. After that, the couple would have removed the Sellotape and filled in the winning numbers when they were announced, the court heard.

  But Dr Li said he could find no evidence the ticket had been tampered with although he had used the most modern technology.

  The club's assistant manager of cashbet technology, Eddie Tsang Chun-ching, who deals with more than 600 suspected ticket forgery cases a year, said he thought the ticket was forged.

  The court heard Mr Tsang had testified for the Crown in five Mark Six ticket forgery cases.

  But Andrew Macrae, for the defence, cast doubt on Mr Tsang's expertise. He had received training from a betting machine manufacturer in the US for one month and spent two weeks in Australia visiting a betting ticket factory, the court heard.

  Mr Macrae said Mr Tsang had failed to declare his independence as an employee of the club, the victim of the alleged forgery.

  Eastern Court magistrate William Eccleton ruled Mr Tsang's evidence was inadmissible.

  He said: 'The witness must have much knowledge about Jockey Club tickets. But he has no qualification in examining forgery. Nor had he had any sophisticated equipment to assist the job, except a calibrator and his naked eye.

  'A Customs officer deals with thousands of passports everyday. Yet it won't make him an expert on forged travelling documents.'   Mr Eccleton said the Crown should have put forward evidence on how the couple's ticket was tampered with, rather than theories on how forgery might be carried out.

  The couple told the court they were determined to claim the dividend.

    Club officials were unavailable for comment.



Couple cleared of Mark Six forgery seek $3m prize