Ex-lawmaker William Wong pleads guilty to drink driving and failing to stop after CUHK crash

Ex-lawmaker William Wong has pleaded guilty to drink driving and failing to stop after a traffic accident, following an incident in June that prompted his resignation from the Legislative Council.

Wong entered his plea at Sha Tin Magistrates’ Courts on Wednesday.

The 66-year-old was charged with driving with alcohol concentration above the prescribed limit, careless driving, failing to stop after an accident, and failing to report an accident involving damage. The charges all relate to an incident at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) on June 29.

Wong, who was also an associate dean at the university’s engineering faculty, hit two parked cars outside a CUHK residential hall that night, police said.

Wong left the scene after the accident but later returned for an investigation, during which he failed a breathalyser test.

Paul Tse, also a former lawmaker, represented Wong in court. He read out a mitigation statement lasting nearly 45 minutes, saying that Wong was a person of good character and had 33 years of experience serving society, local media reported.

The barrister submitted mitigation letters from political heavyweights including former chief secretary Henry Tang and former transport chief Frank Chan. Lawmakers Peter Shiu and Duncan Chiu also wrote letters.

Lawyer urges non-custodial sentence

Wong was elected to the Legislative Council in 2022 via a by-election to fill four vacancies in the lawmaking body. The by-election was a small-circle vote in which only members of the Election Committee, a body composed of political elites, could vote.

He was re-elected during the Legislative Council elections in 2025.

Days after the traffic incident, he stepped down as a lawmaker and apologised for bringing “trouble” to society. CUHK also suspended Wong from his position as the engineering faculty’s external affairs associate dean, although the university website still lists him as a professor.

Tse also said during mitigation that a friend had offered to drive Wong home that night, but Wong declined as he did not want to take up their time.

Wong also had sleep apnoea and was extremely tired at the time, causing him to lose his sense of judgement, Tse said.

Tse argued that imprisonment would be a “disproportionate punishment,” and asked the court to consider a community service order or a suspended sentence – a type of penalty where the defendant does not have to serve the jail term unless they reoffend within a specified period.

Safeguard press freedom; keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team

Support HKFP  |  Policies & Ethics  |  Error/typo?  |  Contact  |  Newsletter  | Transparency & Annual Report | Apps

Make a one-off donation.

Hillary Leung is a journalist at Hong Kong Free Press, where she reports on local politics and social issues, and assists with editing. Since joining in late 2021, she has covered the Covid-19 pandemic, political court cases including the 47 democrats national security trial, and challenges faced by minority communities.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Hillary completed her undergraduate degree in journalism and sociology at the University of Hong Kong. She worked at TIME Magazine in 2019, where she wrote about Asia and overnight US news before turning her focus to the protests that began that summer. At Coconuts Hong Kong, she covered general news and wrote features, including about a Black Lives Matter march that drew controversy amid the local pro-democracy movement and two sisters who were born to a domestic worker and lived undocumented for 30 years in Hong Kong.