Teresa Cheng's Husband Challenges Fine Over Pool

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2020-10-22 HKT 16:11

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  • Teresa Cheng's husband challenges fine over pool

The husband of the Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng has appealed against a HK$20,000 fine in an illegal-structure case involving his luxury home in Tuen Mun.

In April last year, West Kowloon Magistracy convicted Otto Poon, a veteran engineer, of having a swimming pool built in the garden of his house without approval from the Buildings Department.

On Thursday, Poon, 80, asked the High Court to overturn the conviction, with the bone of contention on whether the pool constituted a "structure".

Poon's lawyer pointed out that the pool could have been taken apart easily.

But the Department of Justice said its capacity exceeded 14 tonnes, so construction needed prior planning approval.

In the original trial, the magistrate had ruled that the pool counted as a “structure” even if it could be moved.

High Court judge Esther Toh reserved judgement to a later date.

The illegal-structure case came to light shortly before Cheng took over as justice secretary in 2018.

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