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Lai Ying-kit

SAMUAL CHAN

A private security guard left a shotgun beside an ATM in an Aberdeen shopping centre on Sunday night, the second similar case in as many months.
A member of the public spotted the firearm propped up against a wall next to the HSBC automated teller machine inside a shopping centre on Chengtu Road.
Police were called to the HSBC express banking outlet on the first floor of Albert House at about 11pm, a police spokeswoman said yesterday.
Minutes after they arrived, a guard, 29, from security firm Brink's approached the scene looking for the gun, she said.
The guard was taken away for questioning. He had earlier been collecting cash from the branch. The spokeswoman said she had no information about the type of gun involved or whether it was loaded. No arrest had been made yet, she said.
Western District's criminal investigation department is looking into the matter. Detectives will view CCTV footage and check if anyone had touched the gun.
Both HSBC and Brink's Hong Kong declined to comment.
This is not the first time a guard has forgotten his gun at an ATM. On February 8, an employee of security services firm G4S left a fully loaded Remington shotgun leaning against a cash machine in Shek Kip Mei.
G4S was also involved in a June 2013 incident in which one of its guards, 21, forgot his Remington during a regular inspection of an ATM in Sha Tin. The guard was arrested for failing to comply with the terms and conditions of the company's licence.
Security firms are regulated by the Security and Guarding Services Industry Authority under the Security Bureau through a licensing system.
In January, Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok told lawmakers that licence applicants must meet a set of criteria concerning the firm's background, staff training, insurance arrangements and security equipment to qualify as a "Type II" security company, which would provide armoured transport services.
The bureau said a licensee that failed to comply with its licence conditions or provided substandard services might get police warnings, be prosecuted, or have its licence revoked if it failed to improve.


Hong Kong security guard leaves shotgun behind at shopping centre ATM

A guard (left) apparently left his gun at an ATM. Photo: SCMP pictures

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