Mahjong players fought off two armed robbers ... then returned to their game without calling police, court hears
A handily placed money bag and a roll of cash stops a bullet. Outraged, the players set upon the two would-be robbers, then resume their gambling on mahjong.
A scene from a Hong Kong movie? No - from the city's crime beat, the Court of First Instance heard yesterday.
The tale of derring-do at the mahjong table was revealed in a plea hearing for Shing Man-ping, an illegal immigrant from Hunan province. Shing, 35, pleaded guilty to charges of attempted robbery, robbery, possessing a weapon in the course of a robbery and possessing firearms and ammunition without a licence.
Prosecutor Harish Melwaney told the court that on the night of June 9, Shing and an accomplice entered a home in Fanling and attempted to rob the six occupants who were playing mahjong. While his accomplice covered the players, Shing set about tying them up and robbing them one by one. But he ran into trouble when he tried to take a waist bag from one woman, who refused to give it up.
Shing's accomplice then pointed the pistol at the woman, who heard a 'bang which to her resembled the sound of a champagne bottle being opened', Mr Melwaney said.
One of the other players then shouted that the gun was a fake, while another ran to get a cleaver from the kitchen. Shing and his friend ran away, and the group resumed their mahjong game without even calling the police - even though the woman had spotted a hole in her shirt and a red welt on her stomach.
