Gary Cheng jailed for 18 months

Disgraced former legislator Gary Cheng Kai-nam was jailed for 18 months for corruption and deception yesterday after a judge told him his crimes had eroded the trust of the people in their leaders.

Judge Alan Wright spared him a heavier sentence because of his 'very substantial fall from grace' from vice-chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong. The judge, speaking in the District Court, said he noticed the 51-year-old had 'visibly altered in the past year' amid the publicity over his scandal.

'This is a very substantial fall from grace which inevitably will contribute to his punishment and is a matter which I am entitled to take into account to some extent,' the judge said. 'The very fact of his former position has ensured that his circumstances have attracted far above average publicity.'

Cheng was found guilty of misconduct in public office, accepting an advantage as a public servant, theft and false accounting, which he had denied. He was acquitted of one count of theft.

Judge Wright said the two offences in relation to his position as a legislator were serious in principle but had not resulted in any great mischief.

'The public interest was harmed by this conduct not in financial or material terms but in the erosion of the trust which [the public] is entitled to repose in persons in this office, in the confidence which it is entitled to place in the probity of those chosen to represent it,' he said.