The six potential criminal offences by Hong Kong lawmaker who snatched woman official’s phone

Theft and robbery among possible charges, but Legco members and legal experts disagree over likelihood that Ted Hui will face prosecution

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Lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung apologising for grabbing a government official’s phone without her consent. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 8:03am, 27 Apr 2018Updated: 11:09am, 27 Apr 2018

By snatching a woman official’s phone, Hong Kong opposition lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung could have committed up to six criminal offences, ranging from common assault to robbery, and put his fledging political career at risk, according to local legal experts.

On Thursday, the Legislative Council Commission, which handles administrative matters, watched CCTV footage of Hui’s Tuesday encounter with a civil servant in which the 36-year-old lawmaker grabbed her phone and ran to the men’s toilet to look through its contents before passing the device to another official 10 minutes later.

According to sources who had seen the footage, Hui saw the official at the lift lobby and approached her to see what she was doing.

Hui (centre) was elected to Hong Kong’s legislature in 2016. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

He grabbed a sheet of paper she was holding – a list of lawmakers with their photos – and pointed at her phone. She put the phone behind her back and the two struggled.

After disappearing into a camera blind spot, Hui reappeared with the phone and dashed to the toilet, dropping the sheet of paper on the way. The officer gave chase but could not catch him.