A POLICEMAN was fined $4,000 and given a suspended sentence yesterday after a motorbike fun-ride led to the death of a colleague. Constable Charles Lo, 37, pleaded guilty to five summonses: two for driving on a footpath and one each for carrying a pillion passenger who failed to wear a protective helmet, permitting a vehicle to be driven without a licence, and permitting a vehicle to be used without third-party insurance. Magistrate Mary Yuen said Lo had brought disgrace to the force. He was on strength but was not carrying out his duties. She fined Lo $4,000 and sentenced him to two months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months. Lo's driving licence was disqualified for 18 months. Western Court heard Lo was patrolling on a motorcycle in Wan Chai when he saw his off-duty colleague Ma Wai-kuen in the early hours of May 30, last year. Constable Ma, who was not wearing a helmet, rode as a pillion passenger on Lo's motorbike. Lo allowed Ma, who did not hold a licence to drive a government vehicle, to ride his police motorbike. Off-duty Constable Cathy Wong Sze-wai, 20, also rode the motorbike, but she lost control and suffered a head injury. She died in Tang Shiu Kin Hospital five days after the accident.
