American jailed for batons, stun guns and Mace stash

[ohchk2001]

From: SCMP

An American kung fu enthusiast who was jailed for keeping a store of stun guns, bayonets, and knuckledusters in his hostel room said he had bought the weapons from vendors who openly displayed them in two popular tourist shopping areas.

Alan van Leuven, 38, pleaded guilty in the District Court yesterday to charges of possessing an offensive weapon in a public place, possessing arms without a licence and possessing prohibited weapons. He said he bought the items in Mong Kok and on Temple Street.

Van Leuven, who has worked in creative services, also pleaded guilty to failing to surrender to custody for not appearing when the same court was due to hear his trial for those offences last year.

Deputy District Judge Rickie Chan Kam-cheong jailed van Leuven for 16 months, saying weapons possession, especially of stun guns, was considered serious in the city.

Van Leuven, who had separated from his Hong Kong wife and was renting a bed at the Travellers Hostel in Chungking Mansions, was found with three Japanese bayonets, three masks, two gravity-operated steel police batons, two stun guns, two pepper sprays, 40 metal balls, one bulletproof jacket, one folding knife and two knuckledusters in his possession, senior public prosecutor Ira Lui Tsz-ming said.

The two stun guns, which could deliver 35 kilovolts and 58 kilovolts, were of mid to high-range voltage, Lui said.

In addition, van Leuven faced two charges involving three fake grenades, 20 folding knives and one three-sectional folding staff. He pleaded not guilty to the charges, which the prosecution has decided not to pursue.

Police stopped van Leuven on Nathan Road on August 7, 2008, and found one knuckleduster and the folding knife in his trousers. Van Leuven then led officers to the other items under his bed and in two cabinets in the 16th-floor room of the Tsim Sha Tsui hostel.

Shaun Kelly, van Leuven's barrister, said his client had bought the items from traders in Mong Kok or on Temple Street, who displayed them openly. "The availability lulls people into a false sense of security," he said, adding that in some countries stun guns were marketed as non-lethal self-defence weapons.

Kelly said van Leuven had bought the knuckledusters in a sporting goods shop and that a vendor had sold him the stun guns without a warning.

However, one police officer said outside court he could not find most of the vendors van Leuven described.

Asked whether there have been efforts to prevent tourists from buying such weapons, a Hong Kong Tourism Board spokeswoman said the board has highlighted that some personal protection devices such as Mace spray, while legal in some countries, are prohibited in the city.

Van Leuven said he had bought the weapons for self-protection, claiming two gangs had assaulted and robbed him in 2007. Kelly said his client, a war games and kung fu enthusiast, liked to collect memorabilia.

That Van Leuven's parents and elder brother, had all been police officers and work in security, influenced him, Kelly said in mitigation. Van Leuven's brother and father have served in the military. His father owns a ship security company while his mother works in casino security.

Van Leuven arrived in the city in 2003, after marrying in the United States. He had been living in the hostel for more than four months before police found the weapons.

Van Leuven, who had been granted bail, failed to appear for his trial. He was found after police took him in as a witness to a separate event in Tsim Sha Tsui and discovered he was a wanted person.

Possessing an offensive weapon in a public place carries up to three years in prison for those aged 25 years or more, while possession of arms or ammunition without a licence carries a fine of up to HK$100,000 and 14 years in prison, and possession of a prohibited weapon a fine of HK$10,000 and three years in prison.

Can you really buy stuff like stun guns and mace in Mong Kok and/or Temple Street? I never saw anything like that, but I guess I never looked. Still you'd think Police would clamp down on it if it was something illegal to sell no?

Either way this guy clearly broke the law, and even skipped out on his court date which made it worse.

[Football16]

It sounds like you have to work to find this stuff in HK. I doubt it is sitting open in the night market. Clearly if a guy has this kind of weaponry and alleges being beaten up by gangs there are some serious signs of instability here or other stuff going on. Not turning up in court isn't cool either.

The sentences here aren't anything to sneeze at when I compare them to what has happened back home in Canada where this dude would get lesser sentence if convicted at all.

[Sigga]

Wingnut. It's scary if what he said was true, though I somehow doubt stun guns are being openly sold.

The two stun guns, which could deliver 35 kilovolts and 58 kilovolts, were of mid to high-range voltage, Lui said.

Never trust a lawyer. Stun guns can run to over a million volts.

[ohchk2001]

It sounds like you have to work to find this stuff in HK. I doubt it is sitting open in the night market. Clearly if a guy has this kind of weaponry and alleges being beaten up by gangs there are some serious signs of instability here or other stuff going on. Not turning up in court isn't cool either.

Yeah what's up with his claims of being beated up by gangs. HK is a really safe place. Gangs don't just come here and beat your ass.

[jgl]

Interesting article, but the main thing I got out of it was the the SCMP's standard of English really is hitting new lows. The writer has apparently just discovered the joys of the comma.

[Sigga]

Interesting article, but the main thing I got out of it was the the SCMP's standard of English really is hitting new lows. The writer has apparently just discovered the joys of the comma.

I guess that's what happens when you fire all your editors!

[hullexile]

Interesting article, but the main thing I got out of it was the the SCMP's standard of English really is hitting new lows. The writer has apparently just discovered the joys of the comma.

Really, I don't know what you mean, he says, sarcastically.