Statistician Acquitted of Loitering Over Student Stalking Case
HK01 · 2 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago2 MIN
Summary
A government statistician, Lam Wing-hong, 59, was acquitted at Eastern Magistrates’ Courts of a loitering charge linked to a female student at a school in Causeway Bay on 5 July 2025. Magistrate Lam Tsz-hong said the defendant’s photographing and following of the student at school was suspicious and amounted to loitering, but the legal test also required that his presence objectively caused reasonable fear for safety or interests. The court found the complainant’s anxiety stemmed more from what she said were repeated MTR encounters over two to three years, rather than from what happened inside the school that day. The magistrate said the loitering offence was ill-suited to deal with prolonged stalking-type conduct and suggested the Law Reform Commission consider legislation targeting stalking.
Key Points
- Lam Wing-hong, who reported himself as a Census and Statistics Department statistician, denied one count of loitering causing concern to another person.
- The charge alleged he loitered in a public place inside a Causeway Bay school on 5 July 2025, causing student X reasonably to fear for her safety or interests.
- Agreed facts said the school was holding an open day, members of the public could enter without registration, and Lam went from the third-floor hall to the fourth floor before leaving.
- Police found 45 photos on Lam’s phone, including 17 taken that day of X at school, as well as selfies of him in front of exhibits.
- After his arrest at MTR Tsing Yi Station on 29 July 2025, Lam said under caution he followed the student because she resembled a former friend and he wanted to know her.
Why It Matters
The ruling draws a sharp line between conduct that appears suspicious and the narrower legal elements prosecutors must prove under Hong Kong’s loitering law. It also revives the unresolved policy question of whether Hong Kong needs a specific anti-stalking regime for repeated, non-violent pursuit that may unsettle victims over time but does not fit existing offences neatly.