Hong Kong man robbed 7-Eleven store to make money for ‘kidnapped’ girlfriend’s ransom – only to later learn he had been scammed by her
Lee Ho-yin, 23, turned up at the shop around 5am wearing sunglasses and a surgical mask, and pointed pellet gun at employee before making off with HK$5,650
A Hong Kong man held up a convenience store with a pellet gun and stole more than HK$5,600 (US$718) to get cash to save his kidnapped girlfriend in mainland China – only to later find out he was the victim of a scam, a court heard on Friday.
Part-time swimming instructor Lee Ho-yin, 23, pointed a black gun at a shopkeeper when he robbed the 7-Eleven convenience store on Shanghai Street in Kowloon on May 22 last year. He stole HK$5,650 after the frightened employee unlocked the till and handed over the takings.
Defence counsel Jasper Kwan Hang-fun told the High Court that Lee stole the money because he wanted to save his girlfriend, who claimed to have been kidnapped on the mainland. But it later turned out to be a scam, making Lee the “victim of a fraud”, he said.
The barrister also said Lee picked a gun – which fired small plastic pellets – with weak firing power to avoid causing injuries. But Madam Justice Susana Remedios, who presided over his mitigation session, replied: “It looks quite real.”
She sought reports on Lee’s mental condition after learning he had suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and Asperger syndrome. She adjourned sentencing to July 23.
Lee pleaded guilty at Eastern Court to one count of robbery in February.
