HONG KONG: The computer technician convicted of stealing sexually explicit photos of Canto pop star Edison Chen Koon-hei was sentenced to eight and a half months in jail yesterday. His defence counsel declared he would file an appeal.

After spending two weeks remanded in custody, 24-year-old Dicky Sze Ho-chun appeared in Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts wearing a light green shirt and a new haircut yesterday.

Sze was found guilty of three counts of dishonestly obtaining access to the intimate photos of Chen engaged in sex acts with female celebrities including Gillian Chung, Cecilia Cheung and Bobo Chan.

He was accused of stealing the pictures while Chen's computer was being repaired at Elite Multimedia Limited where Sze was employed.

He showed the photos to two female staff at a household store and burnt a compact disc containing 1,300 sex images for one of them.

Pleading for leniency before Chief Magistrate Tong Man, defence counsel Kevin Tang said Sze was only 21 when he committed the crime and was ignorant of the law.

"The defendant had no malicious intention in showing the nude images to others ... He was an innocent willing to share his experience with people who asked him to do so. He regrets what he did and his naivete, " Tang said, adding Sze accepts responsibility for the incident.

Sze and his family came under tremendous pressure after the computer technician was arrested in early 2008, Tang continued.

To avoid public disdain and being hounded by media, Sze hid himself at home for a year. Sze's parents and sister described the ordeal as "life in jail". Sze also worried about the safety of his family. Tang said Sze felt remorse and guilt over bringing difficulties on his family.

However, Magistrate Tong ruled out suspending sentence owing to the seriousness of the crime.

"Though the defendant realized no monetary gain, he gravely invaded the privacy of others and breached the trust of his employer, " he said.

Although there was no evidence proving that Sze was responsible for touching off the high-profile scandal by distributing the photos on the Internet, Sze did expose private information of others in an extremely dangerous situation, Magistrate Tong added.

"Everyone's privacy needs to be respected ... Have you ever thought of the discomfort, sadness and pressure suffered by the people whose privacy you invaded? " he asked.

Noting that Sze had no previous criminal record, Magistrate Tong sentenced him to serve eight months and 15 days on each of the charges. The sentences are to be served concurrently.

The magistrate refused to grant bail pending appeal and ordered that Sze be jailed immediately.

Outside the court, Sze's mother who supported the son since the first hearing was visibly upset by the sentence.

Chief Inspector of Police Kenny Wong Tak-cheung said the judgment served as a warning to the public that it is a serious offense to use a computer dishonestly.

"Hong Kong Police is determined and capable of combating technology crime," he added, reminding computer and Internet users to be cautious about their behavior.

Sze was the third person arrested in relation to the celebrity sex scandal.

Kwok Chun-wai, aged 24, was sentenced to two months in jail suspended for two years last July for publishing hyperlinks for downloading 83 of Chen's sex photos in online discussion forums.

The first man arrested, Chung Yik-tin, was freed last February after charges against him were withdrawn.

(HK Edition 05/14/2009 page1)