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SCMP Reporter

Andrew Lam out of jail three months into four-year sentence

Jailed solicitor Andrew Lam Ping-cheung, convicted in a high-profile case that followed raids by the Independent Commission Against Corruption on several newspapers, was released yesterday on HK$1 million bail after spending more than three months in jail.

Accompanied by his brother and his son,  Lam was released pending an appeal on payment of HK$1 million cash bail together with another HK$1 million cash surety. The court also ordered him to report to the authorities and to surrender his travel documents.

Lam, 54, received a four-year sentence on June 16 on one count of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. The prominent solicitor was jailed along with three others for his involvement in what the prosecution described as an orchestrated media and judicial campaign to gain access to a protected witness.

Following a three-hour debate in the Court of First Instance yesterday, Mr Justice Robert Tang Ching allowed the bail application made by Neville Sarony SC, for Lam.

Yesterday Lam said he was 'very tired' as he emerged from the High Court building in Admiralty.

'I will definitely take a bath first and will then celebrate with my family tonight,' he said, adding that he felt he had become less articulate due to the isolation of jail.

In June,  Lam was found guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and was sentenced to four years' jail  by the District Court.

Criminal barrister Kevin Egan, who was also released  after posting HK$1 million bail on August 1 pending his appeal, was convicted of having attempted to disclose the identity of a witness to  former South China Morning Post reporter Magdalen Chow Yin-ling, who testified under immunity from prosecution at his trial.

Businessman Derek Wong Chong-kwong, 38, was jailed for three years on the conspiracy charge, and his lover, Mandy Chui Man-si, 26, received a 21/2-year sentence on the same charge. Chui was also  given a 12-month term for attempted perjury, which were to run concurrently.

Lam, Wong and Chui were accused of putting pressure on the  Court of First Instance and also leaning on the media to  persuade the Independent Commission Against Corruption   to release Becky Wong Pui-see, Derek Wong's secretary, who they feared would give evidence against them in an ICAC probe  into market manipulation.



Jailed lawyer released on HK$1m bail