Actress Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi was fined HK$2,500 yesterday after her luxury sports car knocked down an elderly street cleaner in Repulse Bay last year, breaking his ribs and leg.
Cheung, 31, pleaded guilty to two careless driving summonses at Eastern Court through her lawyer. She was not in court.
She was driving a HK$1.26 million black Range Rover when she hit Cheng Tak-yau, 68, at 2.30pm near a junction between Repulse Bay Road and South Bay Road on March 30 last year, the court heard yesterday.
In a letter submitted to court, Cheung (pictured) apologised and expressed remorse. 'I am deeply sorry that my careless driving manner affected others and troubled the court,' she wrote. 'I promise I will not drive carelessly in the future.'
The court heard that minutes before the accident, she had crossed continuous double white lines and driven against traffic flow to overtake a minibus, causing the driver to brake. Cheng was wearing a fluorescent working vest when he was hit. He spent 18 days in Queen Mary Hospital. Cheung passed a breath test.
Defence lawyer Cheung Kam-wing said the actress was in a hurry to take her son to see a teacher at school. She hit the man as he emerged suddenly from a place where people were not supposed to cross the road.