Hong Kong truck driver pleads guilty to possession of explosives
- Lo Kwok-wa, 24, was found at a reservoir with a mixture of potassium perchlorate, sulphur and aluminium on June 11 last year
- He admits in court he had gone to the reservoir with three others to test the potency of the substances
A truck driver has admitted to possessing a mixture of explosive powders after he was caught at a Hong Kong reservoir last year attempting to test the lethal cocktail of substances.
Lo Kwok-wa pleaded guilty on Thursday to possession of explosives, an offence punishable by seven years in prison at the District Court.
The court heard the 24-year-old defendant was found with an 8cm metal tube that contained 45 grams of a mixture of potassium perchlorate, sulphur and aluminium, when he and three others were intercepted at the East Dam of High Island Reservoir in Sai Kung in the early hours of June 11.
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The three accomplices, only identified by their surnames in court, were still at large after jumping bail in July last year.
Lo admitted in court he had gone to the reservoir with the trio to test the potency of the explosives.
A police bomb disposal officer said the explosives were capable of burning anyone or any property within a one-metre radius. Debris from the explosion could have injured or even killed anyone within 10 metres, the officer added.
Police initially thought the four were planning to use the explosives during the 2019 anti-government protests, but prosecutors could offer no evidence on Lo’s motive for having the dangerous items.
Defence counsel Franco Kuan Bak-on said in mitigation the court had no basis to say that Lo had planned to use the explosives for illegal purposes.
Judge Adriana Noelle Tse Ching rejected that submission, saying there was no lawful excuse for the accused to be in possession of the substances.
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She also rejected the comparison by the defence of the explosives in the present case to less lethal ones including smoke cakes and thermites, pointing to the bomb disposal officer’s opinion that the defendant could have caused serious casualties had he ignited the powders.
“You are not comparing apples and oranges,” Tse added.
The judge postponed sentencing to July 2 pending the defendant’s background report. Lo, who has been remanded in jail for a year, will remain in custody.
