Hong Kong court rejects legal bid by ex-policeman who was fired, lost pension over sexual misconduct with teen
Hong Kong Free Press
A Hong Kong judge has rejected a legal bid by a former policeman who was sacked from the force and lost his pension after he was found guilty by a disciplinary panel of a sexual relationship with a teenager.
High Court judge Russell Coleman on Thursday dismissed an application for judicial review by former senior constable Chan Kin-man, who was penalised in May 2022 by the Police Force Disciplinary Tribunal over “conduct calculated to bring the public service into disrepute.”
Judicial reviews are considered by the Court of First Instance and examine the decision-making processes of administrative bodies. Issues under review must be shown to affect the wider public interest.
Chan’s internal appeal against his original penalty had failed and resulted in more serious punishment. He argued in his High Court hearing that he had not faced a fair hearing and that his increased penalty of forced retirement with no retirement benefits was “irrational.”
Sexual relationship with minor
The charges against Chan filed in December 2019 resulted from complaints by a woman who first met the former policeman when she was aged around 15. Chan was accused of paying her in exchange for taking indecent photos of her sometime between 2012 and 2015 and of having a paid sexual relationship with the teenager in 2015.
He was also said to have falsely signed HK$100,000 on a cheque in August 2016 that belonged to the Tuen Mun District Junior Police Call and to have sent a copy to the woman via messaging app WhatsApp.
All the alleged misconduct took place while Chan was still serving.
Chan denied all charges when disciplinary proceedings began in November 2020 but later reversed his plea on the cheque charge. The Disciplinary Tribunal eventually cleared Chan of paying the young woman to have photos taken in her underwear but he was convicted of the other two charges.
‘Nasty’
A police force discipline officer originally gave Chan a “severe reprimand” in May 2022 and ordered him to retire with full retirement benefits. But his punishment was increased after he appealed against it in June 2022, with the deputy commissioner of police (management) concluding that the original penalty was too lenient.
By getting acquainted with a teenager and subsequently taking underwear photos of her, Chan’s behaviour did not “meet the level of conduct expected of him by members of the public,” the deputy commissioner remarked in dismissing Chan’s appeal. Chan had taken advantage of the young woman’s vulnerability and immaturity and engaged in a sexual relationship with her at a charge,” the officer said.
“The nature of the case is far more serious and nasty than simply seeking a sexual service by remuneration,” the deputy police chief wrote at the time.
In dismissing the leave to apply for judicial review, Coleman concluded that Chan was given a fair opportunity to present his case and rebut the prosecution’s case. He also sided with the deputy police chief and said the officer gave a “logical and coherent” explanation as to why Chan’s original penalty was too lenient.
“There was no arguable unfairness in the trial process conducted by the [adjudicating officer],“ Coleman wrote, adding Chan’s case had “no reasonably arguable ground of review with any realistic prospect of success.”
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