Otto Poon Knew His Own House Best, Court Told

A lawyer for the husband of Justice Secretary Teresa Cheng told a court on Thursday that his client didn't need to get government approval to have a swimming pool built in the garden of his home in Tuen Mun, because as a veteran engineer, he knew it didn't pose a safety risk.

The trial of Otto Poon, 78, follows the unauthorised building works scandal that engulfed the justice minister when she took up the position last year.

In his final speech after a three-day trial at West Kowloon Court, defence lawyer Gerald McCoy dismissed the prosecution’s claim that the sheer weight of the swimming pool in Poon's garden meant it had to be defined as construction work that needed to be scrutinised by the authorities.

McCoy said the defence had proved that the garden was designed to support heavy loads and it was therefore safe for the pool to be installed.

He noted that Poon is a highly qualified engineer who was extremely familiar with the specifications of his own home and any safety issues.

“Such basic calculations can be done in the mind of a good engineer or on the back of an envelope,” the lawyer said.

But summing up his case, the prosecution lawyer, Edwin Choy, said the expert witness called by the defence to try to prove the pool was safe had made use of the relevant building records and the witness' own calculations had initially gone wrong.

Choy said this in itself proved the need for the proper paperwork to be filed and checked by officials and Poon's failure to do this had compromised the integrity of the regulatory regime.

A verdict from the magistrate is expected to come on April 25.

Last year, unauthorised building work was found at Cheng's home, next door to Poon's, including a large basement. But the authorities said photographs showed that many of the alterations were there before she moved in and no action was to be taken against her.