Inquest held into man's death

The Coroner's Court began a four-day inquest Monday, into the death of Yeung Tak-cheung. The man was kept waiting for over half an hour for emergency treatment, even though he was only 100 meters away from the gate of the Caritas Medical Centre.

The 56-year-old man was taken to the Sham Shui Po hospital on a truck when he suffered a heart attack on December 20, 2008. But the truck driver, who rushed inside to seek assistance, was told to call 999. His family cited the delay in admitting him to the emergency unit as the cause of death.

The truck driver told court Monday that he parked the truck, because he feared the truck was too heavy and large to be admitted into the hospital grounds. He asked for help from a receptionist at the enquiry desk but was told to call 999. According to his testimony, the receptionist said people outside the premises are not the hospital's responsibility. The receptionist later denied making the remark. She said she told the man she believed it would be faster to summon an ambulance through 999 since the hospital guideline says rescue for "out-patients" should be requested through the emergency hotline.

Ex-cop colludes with forgery ring

A former policeman pleaded guilty in District Court, Monday, to a charge of conspiracy to commit theft in obtaining cash for an international card forgery racket. Sentencing was adjourned to mid-May, pending a background report.

According to the court record, the forgery syndicate hacked into the website of RBS WorldPay, a payment-processing business of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, stole information about bank cards and stole some $10 million using forged cards.

Cheung Hoi-wing, the defendant, and four other men used one forged card and made 226 withdrawals at ATMs in Hong Kong, totaling HK$4.28 million cash. Cheung was paid HK$20,000 for his part. Police have yet to identify three of his accomplices. One is still on the run.

Govt ready to meet Alliance

The government says it will meet again this month with the Alliance for Universal Suffrage, in the hope of saving the electoral reform package, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Stephen Lam said Monday.

As soon as a request is received, Lam said, the government will set up a working group with the alliance to enter rational, pragmatic discussion on the constitutional development in Hong Kong.

Drug seizure case adjourned

The drug trafficking case over the HK$337 million worth of cocaine found at a village house in Ta Kwu Ling has been adjourned to June 14, as the prosecution has applied for more time for investigation.

The six suspects appeared in Fanling Magistrates' Court Monday for a mention. Pang Yuet-man, the 53-year-old village head who owns the house and his wife and sister were remanded to custody. The prosecutor objected to the bail application of Pang's wife and sister on the grounds that they were suspected to have transported the cocaine.

The remaining defendants - the brother, the sister-in-law and a friend of Pang - were released on bail. They are restricted from traveling outside Hong Kong.

China Daily

(HK Edition 05/04/2010 page1)