Mainland Chinese authorities arrested Irene Pun and handed her to local police on March 7. - Reuters
HONG KONG (South China Morning Post): A 29-year-old Hong Kong woman has secured a HK$50,000 bail after prosecutors accused her of assisting a suspect’s attempted escape by boat following the murder of model Abby Choi Tin-fung.
Irene Pun Hau-yin was escorted to Kowloon City Court on Wednesday (March 8) to face a charge of assisting an offender with intent to impede his apprehension or prosecution.
Mainland Chinese authorities arrested her and handed her to local police on Tuesday. The woman, who claimed to be jobless, is believed to be a friend of Choi’s ex-husband, Alex Kwong Kong-chi, one of three people suspected of the model’s murder.
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According to a charge sheet available for press inspection, Pun had allegedly arranged for a yacht to help Kwong flee to Macau “knowing or believing him to be guilty of the offence of [murder]”.
No further details were provided on her suspected role in the escape plan.
Acting Principal Magistrate Peony Wong Nga-yan granted the woman bail after prosecutors raised no objections to her temporary release.
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The defendant was told to observe a travel ban, surrender all relevant documents, report to police twice a week and notify the force about any change of address.
Pun will return to the same court on May 8, when other cases stemming from the same incident will also be heard.
The high-profile case came to light on Feb 24, when officers found body parts belonging to Choi, 28, who had been reported missing, in the ground-floor flat of a three-storey house in Tai Po’s Lung Mei Tsuen.
Police found two pots containing a skull and several ribs, alongside meat cleavers, a hammer, face shields, black raincoats and a purple handbag that belonged to Choi at the flat. Two legs were also found in a refrigerator.
DNA tests later confirmed the skull and legs were Choi’s. Her torso and hands are still missing.
Kwong, 28, alongside his 65-year-old father Kwong Kau, and brother Anthony Kwong Kong-kit, 31, were earlier charged in connection with Choi’s murder and remanded in custody without bail.
Body parts found at village house belong to slain Hong Kong model Abby Choi: source
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His mother, 63-year-old Jenny Li Sui-heung, was also denied bail after being charged with perverting the course of justice.
A 41-year-old yacht rental agent accused of helping Choi’s ex-husband escape to Macau by sea was released on a HK$50,000 bail on a charge of assisting an offender.
Another 47-year-old woman accused of helping Kwong evade police has not been charged yet.
