TNAG-0550-FCO40-645-Allegations-of-corruption-and-bribery-in-Hong-Kong-police-an-1975 — Page 55

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from a third robbery vas recovered from him. He vas subsequently charged with those three robberies, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment on 5th January 1974. One of the others arrestad with him was subsequently released by the police and three others vere prosecuted, two of whom pleaded guilty and the third vas acquitted.

While Mr. CHAN vas in police custody in connection with those robberies, he was questioned about a number of unsolved crimes because the police had reason to believe that Mr. CHÂN might be connected with a person for whom they were looking. On 3rd January, he was questioned about the killing (which occurred in the course of a robbery) to which

Mrs. Elliott refers. The statement he made (in which he said that he took part in the robbery but was not directly involved in the killing) was fairly detailed, as Hrs. Elliott points out, but it involved significant departures from the actual facts known to the police From their investigation some months previously. The inspector who interviewed Mr. CHAN was concerned about these discrepancies and therefore questioned him about them. The inspector subsequently discussed them vith an officer from Wong Tai Sin Police Station who had been directly involved in the earlier investigation of the killing. In consequence enquiries vere made to see whether Mr. CHAN was at liberty at the time the killing took place. Although his criminal record shoved that on 20th July 1973 he was convicted of theft and fined with as alternative of imprisonment, it did not show that he had been in custody on 9th July on remand for psychiatric examination. This led the police to believe that he was at large at the time of the killing.

/Thereafter

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