On 22 July 2021, the Court allowed the appeal, quashed the appellant’s conviction and set aside his sentence. The Court further declined to order a retrial.
“ In essence, it was the appellant’s case that his guilty plea had been entered involuntarily under circumstances of duress, undue influence and/or misrepresentation by virtue of the wrongful and misleading “legal advice” of a solicitor’s clerk and his then legal team. It was alleged that the advice he had been given was tainted and motivated by a conflict of interest, since his legal fees were being paid by Hung Chi-him, or those related to, or connected with, him. As a result of the conflict of interest inherent in the arrangement, the loyalty of his then legal team to render unbiased, fair and independent legal advice to the appellant and to act in his best interests had been seriously compromised, resulting in the appellant being left to face a serious charge of trafficking, which he did not commit, on his own.”
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