Student Seraph Wong is accused of accepting HK$1,000 in bribes. Photo: Edmond So
Source:
https://scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3011278/celebrity-hong-kong-tutor-gets-more-time-prepare Law and Crime
Celebrity Hong Kong tutor Kris Lau gets more time to prepare defence in bribery trial after prosecutors withdraw ‘one-size-fits-all’ charge
- English teacher is accused of paying student Seraph Wong for information on secondary diploma exam
- Pair had also been charged with accessing a computer with dishonest intent
Celebrity tutor Kris Lau leaves West Kowloon Court. Photo: Felix Wong
Lawyers defending a celebrity English tutor accused of bribing a former marking assistant for confidential Hong Kong examination information have been granted more time to prepare their case, after prosecutors withdrew a contentious charge against the pair.
Kris Lau Koon-wah, 43, and Seraph Wong Tsz-hin, 19, a student who previously worked as a marking assistant with the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, were originally accused of accessing a computer with dishonest intent.
But prosecutors withdrew the two counts after the city’s top court unanimously ruled last month that the charge should not apply to a defendant’s own phone or computer, as it would have in the present case.
That leaves a final charge of conspiracy for an agent to accept an advantage, alleging Wong accepted HK$1,000 (US$130) from Lau between April 17 and May 13, 2017, to disclose confidential information from the English Listening and Integrated Skills paper of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) administered by the exam authority.
Prosecutors said they were ready to take pleas from the two defendants.
But the defence counsel asked for another adjournment to explore other ways of handling the case and to gather documents that included bankers’ affirmation and WhatsApp messaging logs.
West Kowloon Court Magistrate Cheung Kit-yee adjourned the case to July 3.
The case came on the heels of a similar one involving another A-list tutor, Weslie Siao Chi-yung, 42, in which prosecutors are seeking to replace the same computer offence with conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office.
Both prosecutions were previously put on hold following a similar case involving four teachers accused of leaking entrance exam questions, in which the High Court found it problematic for prosecutors to rely on the offence of obtaining access to a computer when a defendant had used their own device.
That ruling was unanimously upheld last month by five Court of Final Appeal judges. Seven smartphone-related cases have since been affected, with the contentious charge amended or withdrawn.