Gangsters scared man who lost prostitutes

Two gangsters were jailed yesterday for imprisoning and blackmailing a 'guide' who lost two of the gang's prostitutes after smuggling them into Europe.

Lee Wai-chau, 31, and Chan Tak-wah, 35, forcibly took the guide, Cheung Kin-wai, to a restaurant meeting with their boss, at which Cheung became so terrified he vomited on the table, which alerted a passing policeman.

District Court Judge Fergal Sweeney jailed them for three years.

Lee was also convicted of one charge of theft.

Prosecutor Cheung Kin-bor had earlier told the court that on October 4 last year, Cheung was asked by the Shenzhen-based people-smuggling syndicate to work as a 'guide' escorting prostitutes overseas in return for US$1,500.

Cheung was given three Japanese passports and met six mainlanders - five women and one man - in a guesthouse in Chungking Mansions, Tsim Sha Tsui. He was told to take them to Switzerland via Bangkok.

The plan changed when one man and a woman were handed to a man in Bangkok.