Judge Wilson Chan hands down prison sentence in drug trafficking case, after being told to retire over repeated judicial plagiarism
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenBrian WongPublished: 3:11pm, 30 Jul 2026Updated: 3:12pm, 30 Jul 2026A Taiwanese man has been jailed for more than 12 years for trafficking cocaine into Hong Kong seven years ago – a case that marks an embattled judge’s final public appearance as a member of the bench.
Judge Wilson Chan Ka-shun delivered the sentence at the High Court on Thursday, his last working day after he was told to retire early in light of public concern sparked by his repeated judicial plagiarism.
The defendant, Miao Chi-hung, had admitted bringing two bottles of red wine containing a total of 890 grams (31 ounces) of cocaine to Hong Kong between August 4 and 8, 2019.
Chan set a starting point of 18½ years’ imprisonment and knocked off a third of the sentence to reflect Miao’s guilty plea, resulting in 12 years and four months’ jail time.
The Court of First Instance judge wrapped up the 30-minute hearing by thanking lawyers of both sides for their assistance.
Last week, Chan received a second reprimand from Chief Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung for extensively copying lawyers’ submissions in his judgments. He was first reprimanded by the top judge following a similar complaint in 2023.
Cheung said Chan’s repeated plagiarism had adversely affected the interests of the parties concerned, imposed an unnecessary burden on appellate judicial resources and undermined public confidence in his ability to discharge his duties.
