Abby Choi murder: 2 suspects face joint charge of helping slain Hong Kong model’s ex-husband flee city
- Lam Shun, 41, and Irene Pun, 29, are jointly charged with single count of conspiracy to pervert course of public justice
- Both suspects each previously faced one count of assisting an offender with intent to impede his apprehension or prosecution
Yacht rental agent Lam Shun, 41, and jobless Irene Pun Hau-yin, 29, each previously faced a count of assisting an offender with intent to impede his apprehension or prosecution.
Lam was said to have organised the attempted escape of Alex Kwong Kong-chi, Choi’s ex-husband, to Macau on February 24 for a HK$300,000 (US$38,300) payment.
Pun allegedly arranged for a yacht to help Kwong flee to Macau. She was arrested by mainland Chinese authorities in March 2023 and handed over to local police.
The prosecution changed the charges on Thursday, following two requests to postpone mention of the case at Kowloon City Court to allow more time for concluding inquiries about the two suspects.
The case will be mentioned again in the same court on June 12. The suspects were not required to enter a plea on Thursday as the prosecution sought an adjournment due to the change of charge.
Lam and Pun, both granted HK$50,000 bail on Thursday, were arrested after 28-year-old Choi’s dismembered remains were discovered in a three-storey village house in Tai Po’s Lung Mei Tsuen on February 24 last year.
In Hong Kong, conspiracy to pervert the course of public justice is punishable by up to seven years in the District Court.
Assisting an offender with intent to impede his apprehension or prosecution is punishable by up to two years in jail and a HK$5,000 fine if the case is tried before a magistrate.
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The penalty rises to up to 10 years in prison if the case is heard before a judge and jury.
Six suspects have been charged so far over the murder case. Kwong, 29, allegedly conspired with two family members to kill his 28-year-old former wife Choi on February 21, 2023.
Kwong and his father Kwong Kau, 66, and elder brother Anthony Kwong Kong-kit, 32, will be tried before a High Court judge and a jury on charges of murder and prevention of the lawful burial of a body.
Alex Kwong’s mother, Jenny Li Sui-heung, 64, will stand trial on a count of perverting the course of justice in the lower District Court, where a sentencing cap of seven years of imprisonment applies.
