A former law office assistant who turned to robbing prostitutes to finance his lavish lifestyle was jailed for four years and nine months yesterday.
Henry Lee Wai-kwong admitted robbing two prostitutes at knifepoint to repay debts incurred in spending sprees on designer clothes and electronic gadgets.
Lee, 25, who formerly worked for legal firm Kwan C. Y. and Co, owed $250,000 to credit-card companies and financial institutions, his barrister, Charles Chan Chok-chak, told the Court of First Instance.
Mr Chan said Lee was unable to repay the debts with his $6,600-a-month salary, especially as he gave $5,000 to his elderly mother and his sister, who attends university.
Lee had tried to boost his image and self-confidence with his purchases, Mr Chan said.
'As his income was quite low, he could not make the full payments. So he started to borrow money from finance companies, and that's how the vicious cycle started.' The barrister said Lee was driven to crime when debt-collection firms started pressing him for the outstanding loans.