TWO men, one of whom claimed to have had a homosexual liaison with a senior civil servant, were cleared of blackmail at the High Court yesterday. Law Wan-sang, 35, said he performed sexual favours for the government officer on about 10 occasions at different love motels after meeting him in a public toilet. He also claimed the senior civil servant, referred to only as Mr X at the trial, had given him more than $80,800 in the past. But Mr X said he did not know Mr Law or his co-defendant Wan Chor-kow, 36, who was also cleared of blackmail. The jury of seven women acquitted both defendants after hearing a string of startling allegations about Mr X. Mr Law, a transport worker, and Mr Wan, a decorator, were charged with blackmailing him for $12,000 in a series of telephone calls to his office in Admiralty. Mr X said they had used 'triad' expressions which he found threatening. He told the jury he did not know either defendant and had no idea why anyone should blackmail him. Mr X, who refused to say whether he was homosexual, flatly denied any relationship with Mr Law. But defence counsel Rodney Pritchard and John Wright accused him of lying in court to cover up his gay liaisons. They said the defendants had approached him as 'an old friend' after falling on hard times, but Mr X had accused Mr Law and Mr Wan of blackmail to 'silence' them. Outside the court, Mr Law said: 'We were framed. We genuinely wanted to borrow money.' He added: 'We did not expect to be acquitted. It was a surprise. We are very relieved. I think women think more than men.' In police statements, Mr Law told Detective Chow Lun-fai he met Mr X while working as a male prostitute. He said: 'I went to public lavatories to make money. I made $1,000 every time. 'It so happened that one time when I went to the Ice House public lavatory in Central I [met] Mr X. Since we shared the same habit I went with him that night to an apartment house in Jordan Road.' Mr Law said that after performing homosexual acts, he asked Mr X for money to help pay off loansharks. He claimed Mr Wan and another male prostitute friend, Tse Chi-keung, had also met Mr X at the Monmouth Park public lavatory when they went to look for customers. Mr Law said Mr X had eventually given him a final payment and a letter saying they should not meet again. But the defendants told police they did not know who Mr X was until Mr Wan saw him on television. Mr Law and Mr Wan were arrested on November 27 last year by undercover officers after Mr X arranged to meet them near his office on the pretext of handing over money. Mr Wan, who was alleged to have made the calls, said he had not taken part in homosexual activities with the civil servant, but had gone for drinks with him. During the trial before Deputy Judge Wong, Mr X refused four times to answer questions as to whether he had a girlfriend. Asked if he was gay, Mr X replied: 'If gay relates to homosexual, this is not a question I wish to answer.' He was not in court to hear the verdict.
