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by any authorised person, without being challenged; and he
was not in possession of any kind of a permit!
However,
even assuming that a very alert and efficient constable happened to be on duty at 1.45 or 2 p.m. on 8th June, that
would not have presented any problem to the 2nd-in-command,
Kowloon District armed with a red permit. It is true that
the constable who was in fact on duty that afternoon cannot
remember seeing Godber; but that is hardly surprising
considering the number of persons who pass in and out in the
normal course. The constable's main concern is to check
that the person desirous of passing into the restricted area is wearing his permit on his chest. Again, one has to bear
in mind that, at the material time, the constable had no
official reason to suspect that Godber was under investigation
or on the Immigration Department Watch List.
Immediately inside this gate is the end of the west "finger" or ramp which, after a short walk, loads directly into the departure/transit lounge where a person
can easily mingle with the other passengers.
I do not think that it is necessary in this report
to enumerate and describe the various other possible ways in
which a person, armed with a "red" permit, could have reached the transit/departure lounge. So far as Godber is concerned,
they all involved a very considerable risk of being recognised
by someone. For example, in the customs inspection hall there
are uniformed and special branch officers patrolling the area.
Of course, I cannot say with certainty that he did not pass through Immigration in tao normal way. It is possible
that he had made some arrangement with a member of the Immigration
staff to destroy his departure card as soon as he passed through.
But there was not a shred of evidence to support collusion of
this kind.
Another possibility is that out of the 14 or 15
Immigration channels available, the Immigration officer at the
one chosen by Godber may have made a mistake by overlooking the
name "Godber" on the Watch List, and, later realising his mistake,
he may have destroyed the departure card to cover his tracks.