Hong Kong policeman jailed for 6 months, fined for drink-driving after high-speed chase

A Hong Kong police officer has been jailed for six months and fined HK$15,500 (US$2,000) for driving colleagues to work without a licence on five occasions and being drunk while he was pursued in a high-speed chase.

Constable Keung Kei-kit, 26, was arrested and suspended from duty after initially getting away following the police pursuit last year.

Sha Tin Court on Tuesday also barred Keung from driving for two years. It ordered him to take a driving improvement course at his own expense within the last three months of his disqualification period.

His father, retired policeman Keung Chi-yung, 59, was sentenced to 160 hours of community service, fined HK$12,500 and disqualified from driving for two years for lending his BYD electric car to his son to drive between October and December of 2023.

Acting Principal Magistrate Cheang Kei-hong refused the defence’s request for a short jail sentence commensurate with the period the constable had spent on remand after pleading guilty last month.

“It cannot simply be three weeks in jail for him. He faces multiple charges and has broken the law one time after another. His sentence will have to be measured in months,” he said.

But the magistrate spared the elder Keung from jail, noting that he used to have a clear criminal record before landing himself in court because of his son.