Government statistician Lam Wing-hong, 59, was acquitted on August 25, 2026, after being charged with loitering at a Causeway Bay school on July 5, 2025, in a way that allegedly caused a female student to fear for her safety. The Eastern Magistrates’ Court found that his conduct amounted to loitering but did not reach the threshold of causing an objective observer to reasonably fear for their safety.
Court reporting said Lam attended the school’s open day and remained there for more than six hours. He was reported to have lingered outside the student’s classroom and filmed her. These details formed part of the case against him, rather than findings that he had committed a stalking offence.
The student told the court that, before the incident, she had seen Lam waiting for her to board a train at a railway station over a period of roughly two to three years. She said she felt afraid when she saw him at the school’s open day.
In a statement made under caution, Lam said: “I followed the female student because she looked like a former friend of mine. I wanted to get to know her.” The statement was presented as his explanation for his conduct, not as an established motive.
The magistrate described Lam’s behaviour as “quite suspicious”, particularly in light of his statement and the filming. But the court said the student’s earlier personal experiences could not be used to make an objective assessment of what happened on the day in question. If the prosecution wished to rely on the earlier railway-station incidents, the magistrate said, they would need to be charged separately.
The magistrate also said the filming could not itself be treated as a factor causing reasonable fear because the student did not know she was being filmed at the time. The court therefore acquitted Lam of the charge of loitering causing another person to fear for their safety or interests.
The magistrate said the existing loitering offence might not be suitable for conduct involving prolonged following or filming that appeared suspicious but did not amount to an objectively immediate threat. The ruling also referred to a Law Reform Commission recommendation to criminalise stalking: a report was issued in 2000, the government held a public consultation in 2011, and the proposed legislation was shelved in 2014 after no proposal gained broad acceptance.