Hong Kong court approves return of roast chestnut stall to 90-year-old vendor after man admits illegal hawking

Court clerk says Deputy Magistrate Jeffrey Sham approved application by prosecution for cart’s return; authorities say it will be given back on Thursday

Cart owner says hygiene officials apologised to her and defendant over handling of case; department later says it ‘did not apologise to anybody’

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Zhuang Jianbing leaves court in Kowloon after he admitted a series of charges in connection with hawking without a licence after he looked after a stall for a 90-year-old hawker who was on a toilet break. Photo: Jelly Tse

Published: 5:18pm, 29 Mar 2023Updated: 5:36pm, 30 Mar 2023

A Hong Kong court has backed an application to give a 90-year-old licenced street vendor her roast chestnut cart back after a man arrested for looking after the stall without a licence pleaded guilty to illegal hawking and two other charges.

Chan Tak-ching said she was told by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department after the court case had finished that she could have the cart back on Thursday.

The itinerant hawker told the Post outside Kowloon City Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday two senior members of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) had apologised to her and defendant Zhuang Jianbing.

(Left to right) The vendor’s friend Cheung Man-wa, Chan Tak-ching and Zhuang Jianbing leave court on Wednesday. Photo: Jelly Tse

“They came over to us and said their colleagues did not handle the case in a reasonable manner. They said they could have done better,” she said.

She called up a hawker control officer a few hours later, who confirmed she could get the cart back the next day.

In a statement on Wednesday evening, the department said it “did not apologise to anybody for this case”.

A department spokeswoman also maintained that from the prosecution against Zhuang to the return of the cart to Chan, officers had acted based on evidence and relevant laws.