Prosecutors will be moving Hoang’s case to the District Court. Photo: Warton Li
Source:
https://scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3123327/hong-kong-teen-who-tried-flee-taiwan-other-fugitives Law and Crime
Hong Kong teen who tried to flee to Taiwan with other fugitives faces new bail-jumping charge
- Prosecutors say they will be moving 17-year-old Hoang Lam-phuc’s trial to the District Court, where he faces up to seven years in prison
- Hoang was among the 12 Hongkongers intercepted in mainland waters and detained in Shenzhen last year after boarding a Taiwan-bound speedboat
Hoang Lam-phuc and another teenage suspect are escorted by police after being returned to the city by mainland authorities. Photo: Sam Tsang
A teenager who was one of 12 Hong Kong fugitives caught in mainland Chinese waters while trying to flee to Taiwan last summer will face an extra charge of failing to surrender to custody, a court has heard.
The new charge was pressed as prosecutors on Friday indicated they would move the case against 17-year-old Hoang Lam-phuc – who is also accused of attempted arson stemming from 2019’s anti-government protests – to the District Court, where he faces a maximum of seven years in jail.
Prosecutors told Kowloon City Court that aside from the bail-jumping accusation, they would lay no further charges against the student who, alongside another young man, was handed over to Hong Kong police after mainland authorities decided against trying them for illegally crossing the border.
The teen did not apply for temporary release, and will be remanded in Pik Uk Prison until his next hearing on March 29.
Hoang and Liu Tsz-man, 18, were among the 12 Hongkongers intercepted in mainland waters by the Chinese coastguard on August 23 after boarding a Taiwan-bound speedboat in Sai Kung.
The fugitives, almost all of whom were facing charges in Hong Kong, were detained in neighbouring Shenzhen, with their families complaining they could neither contact the group nor help them secure the lawyers of their choice.
While mainland authorities returned Hoang and Liu to Hong Kong without charge, citing their young age, the court in Shenzhen jailed the rest for between seven months and three years.
Hoang was first charged on October 15, 2019, with attempted arson and possession of offensive weapons for allegedly hurling petrol bombs at Mong Kok Police Station the day before and keeping three other bombs at his home.
He failed to turn up for a pretrial hearing on April 27 last year, four months after winning bail. The court confiscated the teen’s HK$10,000 (US$1,290) cash bail when he was taken back to court on January 13.