A man accused of conspiring to kidnap Ronald Leung Ding-bong portrayed himself yesterday as an innocent truck driver caught up in a plot to abduct the former Urban Council president. Jimmy Wong Hon-wai, 32, denied allegations that he was hired last year to transport Dr Leung in a wooden box to the kidnappers' hideout - an abandoned pig farm in Yuen Long. Wong testified that he had never even seen his co-accused, Brandi Chiang Sai-wah, 48, before the pair were arrested following Dr Leung's foiled abduction on November 6. Wong and Chiang have pleaded not guilty to one count each of conspiring to commit forcible detention. Wong said he was suspicious about the two men - a Mr Cheung and a man he called 'Tall Boy' - who hired him to move a large box, but never realised their plan had been to abduct the well-known political figure. Wong said he had never met Mr Cheung - who hired him by telephone. The two men gave contradictory stories about what they were doing with the box, Wong testified. 'What was your feeling about these different explanations?' asked Phillip Ross, Wong's barrister. 'I found it very strange,' Wong replied. 'When Tall Guy was speaking ... he didn't behave naturally.' The truck driver testified that he lied to police about his whereabouts on November 6 because he did not want to become involved in a high-profile criminal case. 'I suspected they had stolen something,' he said of the two men. 'I worried that I might become involved in the case. So I distanced myself from it.' Dr Leung fought three assailants who tried to kidnap him from his Causeway Bay office, biting off one of their fingertips. The trio has never been identified. Mr Cheung and Tall Guy asked Wong to arrive near the office on several occasions before the failed kidnapping, but cancelled at the last minute, Wong said. Tall Guy and two other unidentified men showed up on November 6, but cancelled once again without explanation, Wong said. The truck driver claimed police beat him during an interrogation and told him he could avoid charges if he testified as a prosecution witness. Fearing another beating, Wong did not initially report the incident. Wong admitted he lied when he said one unidentified man pushed the box back onto his truck after his moving job was cancelled on the day of the abduction attempt. 'How did lying help you?' the barrister said. 'I had no idea,' Wong replied. 'Now, I can't understand the mood or thinking I had at the time.' The trial before Deputy High Court Judge Peter Line continues.
