A Hong Kong airport ground crewman has been handed an 80-hour community service order for taking a picture of ex-chief executive Leung Chun-ying’s passport.

Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts. File photo: Hans Tse/HKFP.
Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts. File photo: Hans Tse/HKFP.

Andrew Chung appeared at Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday. He earlier pleaded guilty to obtaining access to a computer with a view to dishonest gain, The Witness reported.

According to the case details, Leung’s son bought HK Express flight tickets to Japan for the family on December 1, 2019. When HK Express staff checked the son’s details in an online system, they found abnormal purchases including 24 in-flight meals and five check-in luggage quotas.

It was also found that the son’s name had been changed to “Leung Shit.”

Police arrested Chung and two other people with whom he was in a WhatsApp group. Chung had sent a photo of the ex-leader’s passport to the group, the court heard.

Leung Chun-ying
Leung Chun-ying. File photo: GovHK.

Under police caution, Chung said he had logged into the HK Express system and searched for the booking by the leader’s son. He also admitted taking a photo of Leung Chun-ying’s passport and sending it to the WhatsApp group.

Chung, however, denied changing the son’s name to “Leung Shit.”

Magistrate Philip Chan said this was a serious case and the defendant should be punished by more than a fine or a suspended sentence. The airport worker was sentenced to 80 hours of community service.

The two others who were arrested alongside Chung earlier pleaded guilty to offences including criminal damage and obtaining access to a computer with a view to dishonest gain. They were sentenced to 80 hours of community service in August 2022.

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Hillary Leung is a journalist at Hong Kong Free Press, where she reports on local politics and social issues, and assists with editing. Since joining in late 2021, she has covered the Covid-19 pandemic, political court cases including the 47 democrats national security trial, and challenges faced by minority communities.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Hillary completed her undergraduate degree in journalism and sociology at the University of Hong Kong. She worked at TIME Magazine in 2019, where she wrote about Asia and overnight US news before turning her focus to the protests that began that summer. At Coconuts Hong Kong, she covered general news and wrote features, including about a Black Lives Matter march that drew controversy amid the local pro-democracy movement and two sisters who were born to a domestic worker and lived undocumented for 30 years in Hong Kong.