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Charlotte Parsons

An ailing, elderly woman has yet to be told her police officer son is a convicted criminal.

  Detective Constable Woo Lai-wing, 39, was jailed for nine years yesterday after he was found guilty on Friday of conspiracy to rob.

  'The officer's 70-year-old mother has a heart condition. She has not been told of the trouble he is in for fear that it could aggravate her condition,' A. R. Suffiad, for Woo, told the High Court.

  Woo's mother depended on her son, the court heard, and was now likely to need welfare support.

  His co-accused, Detective Constable Ng Chi-wai, 39, was jailed for 12 years.

  The detectives were snared after an undercover agent discovered their plans.

  The Organised Crime and Triad Bureau sent Constable Yiu Sung-chi to penetrate Ng's operation after a tip-off, the court heard earlier.

  On September 29 last year, he approached Ng at a Mongkok restaurant and told him he wanted to join.

  Later that day, a meeting was held in Ng's office at Shamshuipo police station.

  Ng showed him a knife, and rolls of adhesive tape and strips of wire for binding, gagging and blindfolding victims.

  That night the officers went to a Causeway Bay fruit shop 'armed and ready to do robbery', the court heard.

  They took a toy pistol, knives, gloves and wire to tie up their victims. But at the last minute they abandoned the plan.

  Before passing sentence, Mrs Justice Verina Bokhary said the officers had 'betrayed their trust to the community', adding that Ng had 'played the dominant role' in the conspiracy.

  Roderick Murray, defending Ng, told the court Ng's wife had demanded a divorce when she learned the jury's verdict.

  He added that Ng's mother and elder brother both died recently.

  'He has had a lot of tragedy visited upon him,' Mr Murray said.

   The conviction will cost Ng the $700,000 pension due to him after 22 years with the police.

  A third officer, Ng Yuk, 40, was acquitted of conspiracy to rob. All three men had pleaded not guilty.



Officer's disgrace kept from ill mother