Hong Kong statistician acquitted over school loitering case
HKFP · 2 SOURCESabout 3 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday acquitted Patrick Lam Win-hon, a 59-year-old statistician with the Census and Statistics Department, of one count of loitering causing concern linked to a girls’ school open day in Causeway Bay on July 5 last year.
Magistrate Kestrel Lam Tsz-hong said Lam’s conduct at the school was “highly suspicious” and accepted that he had loitered there, but ruled the prosecution had not proved the offence because the court had to assess whether his behaviour on that day was objectively threatening.
The magistrate found that the Secondary 4 student identified as “X” felt unsafe largely because she said Lam had followed her for the previous two to three years, yet those earlier incidents were not included in the particulars of the charge.
Police had found 46 photographs taken at the school, including 17 showing the girl’s face, and Lam admitted after arrest that he had followed her because she resembled an old friend he wanted to know.
Key Points
- The case centred on an open day at a leading girls’ school in Causeway Bay on July 5 last year, where Lam spent 14 minutes on the fourth floor.
- Students alerted teachers after seeing Lam behave suspiciously and take photographs through a classroom window near the 16-year-old pupil’s classroom.
- The girl testified by video link that she had tried changing her commute, but still saw Lam waiting at Central station and elsewhere.
- Earlier alleged encounters dated back to late 2022, including waits at Olympic MTR station and one conversation about whether she had an exam.
- In acquitting Lam, the magistrate said the loitering law targets objectively threatening conduct, so past behaviour could not determine this charge.
Why It Matters
The ruling underlines the difficulty of prosecuting conduct that appears suspicious when the charge is narrowly framed around one incident rather than a longer pattern.
For Hong Kong readers, the case also raises questions about how schools, families and police respond when a student reports repeated unwanted attention during daily travel.