Hong Kong court hears alleged bomb-maker, an ex-pupil at top boys’ school, used its grounds to hide explosives
- High Court hears witness say that secluded spot at Wah Yan College, Hong Kong, in Wan Chai was used to store explosives and make bombs
- Eddie Pang also tells court that he was tasked with picking up bag of explosives stashed in a cubicle at public toilet in Mong Kok
He added Ng also told him the details of the bomb plot for the first time while they smoked cigarettes and talked at the school.
“He was assembling the bomb and mixing a total of 12 to 14 bags of yellow power,” Pang said.
“I was only holding a torch for him.”
He added that each bag weighed about 1kg (2.2lbs) and the result was to be a large bomb, which Ng said would be planted on Hennessy Road in Wan Chai.
Pang told the High Court Ng had asked him that afternoon to collect a “heavy bag” said to have been prepared by a confederate nicknamed “Alchemist”, who had left it in a cubicle at a public toilet in Mong Kok.
“He asked me to check whether there were glass bottles and some devices in the bag … but I did not take it seriously”, he added.
Pang said he thought the individual packs of yellow powder inside the sealed bag were just “some smelly thing”.
Messages between Ng and Pang on Telegram suggested that the two were to meet up at the school after the bag was collected.
Pang said Ng led the way through the school’s grounds and stored the bomb-making material in a hiding place before he called the brigade’s leader for a meeting.
The trial was earlier told by Dragon Slaying Brigade leader Wong Chun-keung, who is also a prosecution witness, that he had met Ng and some of his team on the night of December 7.
Pang said that Ng took the group on a walk along Hennessy Road and showed them where the bombs were to be planted and where other teams, including the Dragon Slaying Brigade, would be used to lure the police into the blast zone.
Six defendants – Cheung Chun-fu, Cheung Ming-yu, Yim Man-him, Christian Lee Ka-tin, Lai Chun-pong, and Justin Hui Cham-wing – have denied involvement in the bomb plot.
Pang told the court that Lai was appointed by Ng to handle everything related to bomb ingredients and manufacture.
He said Lai had owned a phone repair business and his workshop was in an industrial building in Lai Chi Kok.
Pang added that had been to Lai’s workplace twice in November that year and that on one occasion Ng had brought some highly explosive powder and tested it there.
He added Lai also gave Ng a detonator linked to a mobile device so he could try it out.
The court also heard that Lai also suggested that Ng meet “Alchemist” to work out the construction of the bombs.
The court heard earlier that one bomb would be placed near a petrol station on Hennessy Road and the other close to police headquarters in Wan Chai.
Pang will continue his evidence when the trial resumes on Wednesday.
