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Martin Wong

Inquest rules constable shot trio and was himself lawfully killed

Off-duty constable Tsui Po-ko unlawfully killed two fellow policemen and a bank guard, a jury ruled yesterday, wrapping up a sensational 37-day inquest that minutely examined two shootings and a robbery spanning five years but left several  questions unanswered.

The five-member jury found that Tsui unlawfully killed Constable Leung Shing-yan and guard Zafar Iqbal Khan in Tsuen Wan in 2001 and Constable Tsang Kwok-hang in the Tsim Sha Tsui shoot-out  last year.

It found Tsang had lawfully killed Tsui in the shoot-out before dying.

But the inquest left it a mystery how, if Tsui was, as a senior police officer said soon after his death, a 'rogue cop', he stayed at large for so long, and  what his motives might have been for ambushing Tsang and patrol partner Sin Ka-keung in an underpass in Austin Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, on March 17 last year.

It also left open the possibility  that Tsui's mother, Cheung Wai-mei, could be prosecuted for handling money suspected to be the proceeds of the 2001 robbery.

The inquest heard Tsui had put HK$200,000 believed to be proceeds of the robbery in Ms Cheung's account, but she told the court  she did not know the source of the funds.

The Justice Department said it  would await a report from coroner's officer Arthur Luk Yee-shun SC before deciding whether to prosecute her.

After delivering their unanimous verdicts, the three men and two women were excused any further inquest jury duty by Coroner Michael Chan Pik-kiu, who closed the  inquest by saying it was 'the most difficult case ever for a jury to decide'.

Mr Chan expressed his condolences to the family members of the four deceased - including a weeping Ms Cheung, who  said outside court she had not  decided whether to lodge an  appeal against the verdict.

The verdict was delivered at noon  after the jury, which retired on Tuesday, had deliberated for 81/2 hours.

The jury said Tsui had:

Fatally shot Leung on March 14, 2001, using his victim's police revolver while Leung was answering a bogus noise complaint on the Shek Wai Kok Estate;

Fatally shot Khan  on December 5, 2001 at a Hang Seng Bank branch, though it  did not specifically mention  ballistic evidence that the same gun was used to kill Leung and Khan;

Fatally shot Tsang in the shoot-out last year; and that

Tsang returned fire.

Chief Superintendent Philip Choy Kin-cheung, of the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau, said: 'The police will respect the verdicts.  It was  an open and transparent inquest.'

But barrister Audrey Eu Yuet-mee said:   '[Seen] from the angle that justice should be seen to be done, Tsui's side has gone through a complicated hearing without adequately prepared and resourceful legal representation.'

She said. 'If any family is put in a disadvantaged position, there will inevitably be some regrets.'



Jury finds Tsui unlawfully killed three