Queen's College youth threatened herbalist with cutter and covered his mouth with chloroform towel
Two underachieving Queen's College pupils yesterday admitted conspiring to rob a Chinese herbalist at knifepoint.
Mak Chi-ho and Chan Pak-kit, both 16, appeared in District Court hours after receiving disappointing HKCEE results.
Mak was described by his barrister, Bernard Chung Wai-keung, as belonging to 'an abandoned group of students' at the prestigious school whose exam results were not good enough to get them into the Form Six school of their choice. He committed the robbery because he wanted to do something bad for 'relief'.
Prosecutor Kelvin Lee Ka-yun said Mak went to the clinic of 60-year-old herbalist Mak Yiu in Shanghai Street, Mongkok, on January 14 pretending to have flu.
He suddenly produced a cutter and covered Mr Mak's mouth with a towel soaked in chloroform, declaring: 'Robbery.'
The youth fled when the herbalist put up a struggle, leaving behind his wallet. Mr Lee said Chan, who had bought a bottle of chloroform on January 12, was waiting at the ground-floor of the building.
