Man who plotted acid attack on Hong Kong lawyer jailed after spending seven years on the run
Chim Wai-kin asked his cousin to make arrangements that would stop prosecutor Neil Mitchell from attending court in 2009
A man who helped orchestrate an acid attack on a Hong Kong lawyer in 2009 was jailed for 25 months on Thursday after spending seven years on the run.
The District Court heard Chim Wai-kin, 41, asked his cousin to make arrangements that would stop prosecutor Neil Mitchell from attending court in Wan Chai, after a friend named “Ah Keung”offered a HK$100,000 reward.
His cousin gathered a group of men and threw diluted sulphuric acid in Mitchell’s face on October 29, 2009, putting the 52-year-old in hospital for three days.
Chim subsequently fled to mainland China while his conspirators were rounded up in Hong Kong. But he failed to escape capture by mainland Chinese authorities as officers in Urumqi, Xinjiang arrested him on October 27, 2016 and transferred him to Hong Kong police four months later.
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He pleaded guilty last month to one count of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and told a probation officer that he wished to apologise to the victim. He also claimed that he had learned a hard lesson and stressed that he was only a middleman in the attack.
District judge Timothy Casewell noted in sentencing that the offence committed was very serious as it would destroy public confidence in the system.