Prosecutors on notice over use of evidence

Prosecutors have been put on notice that they must be more careful when introducing evidence about a defendant's co-accused after the Court of Appeal ordered a retrial of a man convicted of dealing in almost 1kg of Ice.

On December 6, 2005, Lo Wai-ming, 36, was convicted in the Court of First Instance of a single count of drug trafficking after being caught with 980 grams of methamphetamine hydrochloride, or Ice, on September 3, 2004.

He was sentenced by Mr Justice Michael Lunn to 19 years in jail.

However, the Court of Appeal - comprised of Court of Appeal vice-president Mr Justice Michael Stuart-Moore, Mr Justice of Appeal Frank Stock and Mr Justice Michael McMahon - on May 11 ordered Lo to be retried after finding there had been a material irregularity in the way his trial was conducted.

In reasons for the judgment issued yesterday, the court ruled that two questions put to Lo during the course of his cross-examination were so prejudicial to him that the jury should have been dismissed and the trial begun anew.

Lo was arrested after allegedly meeting another man, surnamed Lau, and taking from him a white plastic bag allegedly containing the drugs. Lo's defence was that he was a police informer and he had lured Lau to the meeting to gather information on his involvement in drug dealing.