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D8 Cheng Tat-hung
91. D8 is now aged 36. He lives with his parents and fiancée. He was a member of the Civic Party and had been a member of its Executive Committee since 2014. He served as a member of the Eastern District Council from January 2016. He left the Civic Party on 15 December 2020. He has clear record. Reference is also made to D8’s background and political career as stated in our Reasons for Verdict.
92. D8 is convicted after trial. We trust that Mr Pun SC has said all that can realistically be said on his behalf. We have also considered the mitigating letters written by D8, his fiancée, family members and residents from North point. Despite his legal qualifications, D8 was not yet a fully qualified lawyer and he had no legal experience. We are prepared to accept that he had been misled by others and in this regard we grant him a 3-month deduction for his possible mistake as to the lawfulness of the Scheme. We also grant him a 3-month deduction for his relatively longer public service as a District Councillor.
93. Apart from the above, we are unable to see any other mitigating factors which may further reduce D8’s sentence. Therefore, D8 is sentenced to 6 years and 6 months’ (78 months) imprisonment.
D9 Chui Chi-kin
94. D9 is now aged 57. Between 1995 and 2014, he was a businessman running his own company. He won the District Council election in October 2015 and subsequently served full-time as a member of the Eastern District Council up to his remand for the present case in
