Barrister Kevin Egan Dies Aged 70

Prominent Hong Kong barrister Kevin Egan has died at the age of 70.

A friend of his, solicitor Andrew Lam, said Egan suffered a relapse of oesophageal cancer early this month and had undergone surgery.

Egan had been in the news recently after briefly representing a mainland woman who unlawfully took photographs in the High Court. The Australian told the court she had accosted him in a lift and he agreed to help her out of sympathy.

One of the city's most famous criminal lawyers, Egan was given a 30-month jail term in 2006 after being accused of attempting to disclose the identity of a witness to a reporter. His conviction was later overturned on appeal.

Before becoming a barrister, Egan worked on ICAC cases at the Department of Justice in the 1970s.

After joining the legal profession, he went on to represent people prosecuted by the anti-graft body and was given the nickname "ICAC nemesis”.