11 years' jail for 75-year-old S'porean in Hong Kong who robbed with toy gun and fled with $2,400
Lok Jian Wen
The Straits Times
March 11, 2025
A 75-year-old Singaporean man was sentenced to 11 years in jail by the Hong Kong High Court on March 11 for separate charges of robbery and attempted robbery.
Leong How Seng had pleaded guilty a day earlier in the Hong Kong High Court to the crimes committed.
In considering Leong's age when arriving at the punishment, the judge said in his written judgment that a light sentence would reduce the deterrent effect, but noted his cooperation with the authorities.
In April 2022, Leong, then 73, robbed a China Construction Bank (Asia) branch in Kowloon's Nathan Road with a pistol-looking device, and fled the scene with around HK$14,000 (S$2,400) in cash. He said he used around HK$7,500 to pay rent to his landlord, HK$1,000 for a new bag and HK$100 to top up his Octopus transport card.
He was nabbed at his residence on the same day by the police, who used CCTV camera footage to track him down. They retrieved an air gun, HK$5,750 in cash and the clothes he wore at the bank.
Investigations found he had also overstayed in Hong Kong with a girlfriend, a former English teacher who had her earnings decimated during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Leong, who had lost contact with his wife, told the court he was born in Singapore and has been living in Hong Kong since 2007.
According to a court document, Leong's Singapore passport expired on July 12, 2009.
He claimed he had overstayed because he was evading debtors in Singapore.
In mitigation, his defence lawyer said Leong has never held a job in Hong Kong or applied for welfare assistance. He relied on his savings and his girlfriend to survive.
His partner, identified in court documents as Ms Tillotson, pleaded for leniency, saying she was sure Leong, who had no visitors while remanded, would not reoffend and was a caring, peace-loving person in the 13 years they were together.
His lawyer added that he was the main caregiver for Ms Tillotson, cooking for her daily prior to his arrest. Both had faced eviction for not paying rent, and had no other family members in Hong Kong.
He was struggling financially and in debt, which led him to commit the crimes. His lawyer said Leong is in poor health, afflicted with diabetes and heart problems.
In an earlier case in July 2020, Leong attempted but failed to rob a Mannings pharmacy outlet. He told the court it was the day his rent was due.
Leong had used water to mimic a flammable liquid and tried to intimidate a cashier from the pharmacy chain into giving him money.
"Robbery! Surrender the money if you want to live, hurry, or burn you to death with petrol," he wrote in Chinese on a slip of paper that he showed the cashier. But the cashier was unmoved and asked him to leave.
The judge acknowledged that there was a difference between the threat posed by water and by a petrol bomb when sentencing Leong.
