Ted Hui Found Guilty In Phone Snatching Case

Democratic Party legislator Ted Hui has been found guilty by the Eastern Court of all three charges against him over the snatching of a female government officer’s mobile phone in Legco last year.

Hui had pleaded not guilty to common assault, obstructing a public officer and accessing a computer with a criminal or dishonest intent.

Magistrate Cheng Lim-chi said he did not accept the defence's explanation that Hui was trying to stop an illegal act by snatching the phone, saying he must have known he was not a law enforcement officer or a Legco security guard. Cheng added that he doesn’t believe the government officer would have interfered with Legco’s operation simply by carrying out her duties.

The incident took place in April last year when lawmakers were discussing the controversial immigration arrangements for the West Kowloon high-speed rail terminal.

Hui was unhappy with what the opposition called the government’s “paparazzi team” for reporting the whereabouts of lawmakers.

When he ran into a principal executive officer from the Security Bureau, he snatched her phone and ran into the men’s toilet with it.

Hui had testified that the officers had breached privacy laws by making notes about where lawmakers were in the building and said that as a councillor, he was obliged to report any illegal acts.

In mitigation, Hui admitted what he did was wrong and he’s sorry about it. But the magistrate said he doesn’t believe Hui was genuinely remorseful.

Hui also said he will "search his soul", adding he hoped the punishment to be handed down by the court will not affect his participation in the deliberation of the extradition law in Legco.

Hui also described his case as political, but the magistrate interrupted him, saying he didn’t think it was a political prosecution.

The magistrate said he will await a community service report before handing down a sentence on June 10.

Hui is also facing a separate probe in Legco over the same phone-snatching incident. If the investigation committee decides to censure Hui, he could be removed from office with a two-thirds majority vote.

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