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The Court of Appeal has quashed the bribery convictions of Chan Kau-tai,  the father of Canto-pop star Eason Chan Yick-shun, and ordered a retrial.

Justices Geoffrey Ma Tao-li,  Woo Kwok-hing  and Robert Tang Ching  yesterday allowed the appeal of Chan, a former Housing Department engineer, after a seven-day hearing. They will hand down reasons for their decision later.

Michael Blanchflower SC, for Chan - who was sentenced to seven years in jail in January last year - had argued that the Independent Commission Against Corruption had acted in bad faith by not disclosing to defence lawyers at the original trial information relating to the drink-driving convictions of chief police investigator Eric Yang Yan-tak.

He also contended the ICAC had avoided checking the record of Mr Yang to ensure his convictions were not revealed.

Mr Yang, who gave evidence during the original trial two years ago as a prosecution witness, was convicted of drink-driving and careless driving in November 2001 and disciplined by the anti-graft body.

A spokeswoman for the ICAC said the anti-graft agency and the Department of Justice would study the court's ruling before deciding the way forward.

She said the ICAC had, in accordance with established procedures, 'disclosed all materials relevant to the defence  throughout the trial'.

John McNamara, the prosecutor in the original trial, told the appeal court last week he had no recollection of being told about Mr Yang's convictions. He said that had he known of Mr Yang's criminal record, he would have told Graham Harris, Chan's defence lawyer at the trial.

But Eric Tong Wing-tak,  the ICAC officer assisting the prosecution of Chan, told the Court of Appeal he had informed Mr McNamara of Mr Yang's conviction during the trial.

Mr Harris told the court he was not informed of Mr Yang's conviction  until after the trial had ended.

Chan was found guilty by a Court of First Instance jury of accepting more than $3 million in bribes from contractors as a former chief government building services engineer.

His bail was renewed pending the retrial.



Pop star's father wins appeal for retrial in bribery case