A mainland Chinese man suffering from a psychiatric condition was jailed yesterday after speeding through a border checkpoint into Hong Kong to get away for China “as soon as possible”.
Zheng Yuzhou, 24, admitted driving his mother’s black Ford Mustang (badass mum) through Lok Ma Chau border crossing without stopping for immigration clearance on Oct. 24 last year.
When police caught up with him three days later in Sheung Wan, he told them he “could be under surveillance and subjected to political persecution if he stayed in China”, adding that he wanted to “leave as soon as possible”.
Despite Zheng’s counsel asking for his client to be released as the incident was “caused by his psychiatric condition”, magistrate Raymond Wong said, “Although you [Zheng] may be affected by your mental problem, I would say that [an] immediate custodial sentence is unavoidable.”
The SCMP reports that it was originally suggested that Zheng spend a few months at Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre, but he was instead sentenced to a year in regular prison and suspended from driving for 15 months.
Zheng had earlier pleaded guilty to driving an unlicensed vehicle, driving without third-party insurance, driving without a licence, and remaining in Hong Kong without authority.
He has been in custody since his arrest on Oct. 27 last year.
