Lisa Kuo penalty 'could have changed'
HKU legal expert says sentencing of Henry Tang's wife should have been delayed until charges against trio - now acquitted - were set
The wife of former chief secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen could have faced a different penalty for building an illegal basement at her home if her sentencing had been delayed until the case against three other people involved had been decided, a legal expert says.
University of Hong Kong principal law lecturer Eric Cheung Tat-ming said it would have been more appropriate to adjourn sentencing of Lisa Kuo Yu-chin so that the court could find out the whole picture.
He was speaking after two professionals and a contractor were acquitted on Wednesday of all charges over construction of the lavish basement at the Kowloon Tong home that derailed Tang's bid for chief executive.
"More testimony should have been heard first … the outcome could have been different," Cheung said of the sentencing. "[Kuo] might not have pleaded guilty if she felt that the [testimonies from the] prosecution's witnesses were rubbish."
Kuo was fined HK$110,000 in October after pleading guilty to starting construction of the basement without permission.
After Wednesday's ruling in Kowloon City Court it remains unclear who the engineers or architects were behind the construction of the 24,000 sq ft basement that included a wine cellar and a gymnasium.