'Pool Didn't Endanger Otto Poon's House Structure'

An engineer told the trial of the husband of Justice Secretary Teresa Cheng on Wednesday that the structure of Otto Poon's house was not threatened by a swimming pool erected in the garden, and claimed the ground would have supported three such pools.

Poon is facing charges of carrying out unauthorised building works at his home in Tuen Mun.

The case centres on whether the pool constitutes building work and whether it was necessary for Poon to seek approval before installing it. Poon, who’s 78 and a veteran engineer himself, has denied knowingly carrying out construction work without government approval.

Dr James Lau, a veteran structural engineer engaged as an expert witness by Poon, told West Kowloon Court that he examined the pool before it was dismantled. He said it did not overstress the ground.

He dismissed remarks made by a government architect at the trial that the pool posed "significant structural implications" to building safety. He said he is surprised that the architect would make such “wrong” comments without inspecting the site and checking relevant building records.

Lau said records show the garden where the pool was placed was originally designed and built for planting “very large trees”, so it’s “very safe” for the pool to be placed there.