Ex-Birmingham City owner Carson Yeung denied bail pending appeal
Carson Yeung must remain in Stanley Prison at least until his next hearing in March, judge rules
A judge yesterday refused former Birmingham City Football Club boss Carson Yeung Ka-sing's application for bail, pending appeal against his conviction and six-year jail term for laundering HK$721 million.
Mr Justice Michael Lunn, vice-president of the Court of Appeal, said that the appeal hearing would be conducted in March next year. Meanwhile, the businessman will continue to stay in Stanley Prison.
The prosecution had earlier applied for a confiscation order against Yeung, and the application has been adjourned pending the outcome of the appeal.
Veteran criminal barrister Gary Plowman SC and Derek Chan represented Yeung yesterday, while a legal team led by Graham Harris SC defended him in the trial. Yeung's wife Joanna Wang Man-li was in court yesterday but remained tight-lipped.
The hairdresser-turned-businessman was sentenced to six years in prison by District Judge Douglas Yau Tak-hong in March on five charges of laundering HK$721 million using five bank accounts at Wing Lung Bank and HSBC between 2001 and 2007.
When he sentenced Yeung, the judge said the stiff prison term was meant to serve as a deterrent, in order to send a message to those who exploited the system that "the law will come down on them with full force".
