A 75-year-old Singaporean man, Leong How Seng, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison by the Hong Kong High Court for robbery and attempted robbery after living illegally in the city for over a decade. His desperate crimes, which involved using a bottle of water and a toy gun, were carried out after he exhausted his savings and fell into financial hardship.
Leong arrived in Hong Kong in 2007 but overstayed and lost contact with his wife. Initially, he survived on his savings, which amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, after years of unemployment, his financial situation deteriorated, and he became reliant on a girlfriend he met in the city. Their situation worsened following the 2019 anti-government protests and the subsequent pandemic.
On July 1, 2020, Leong attempted his first robbery at a Mannings pharmacy in Prince Edward. He walked in carrying a bottle of water and handed a salesman a threatening note that read, “If you want to live, hurry or you will be burned with petrol.” The employee, unfazed by the threat, immediately ejected Leong from the shop and called the police. Since no fingerprints were found on the note, authorities were unable to identify him, and the case was left unsolved.
Leong remained at large for two more years until April 14, 2022, when he carried out a second robbery at a China Construction Bank (Asia) branch in Yau Ma Tei. This time, he used a non-functional air gun to intimidate a teller into handing over HK$14,000 in HK$1,000 banknotes. Unbeknownst to Leong, the teller's actions triggered a silent alarm that alerted the bank’s manager.
A bank employee attempted to chase after him but lost sight of him. Despite this, the police quickly identified Leong and arrested him at his residence in Pat Heung’s Yuen Kong village on the same day. Investigators soon connected him to the failed robbery at Mannings.
During police questioning, Leong admitted to using part of the stolen money to buy a bag, top up his Octopus cash card, and repay HK$7,500 in overdue rent. He claimed he only realized he had stolen HK$14,000 after seeing news reports. Regarding the 2020 robbery attempt, he explained that he had been struggling to pay rent at the time.
During sentencing, Justice Douglas Yau Tak-hong emphasized that despite Leong’s old age and poor health, his use of threats and an imitation firearm warranted a strong deterrent sentence. The judge initially set a prison term of 5.5 years for the failed robbery and 12 years for the bank heist. However, considering Leong’s guilty plea and cooperation with police, the final sentence was reduced to 11 years, with some portions of the sentences running concurrently.
In Hong Kong, robbery carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
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