Senior Ambulanceman of FSD admits misconduct
2016-4-20
A Senior Ambulanceman of the Fire Services Department (FSD), charged by the ICAC, today (Wednesday) admitted that he had misconducted himself by deactivating the Global Positioning System (GPS) installed on ambulances on over 200 occasions so as to avoid emergency duties.
Appearing in the District Court today, Yu Sum-fat Troson-Zab, 54, pleaded guilty to one count of misconduct in public office, contrary to Common Law.
Judge Gary Lam Kar-yan adjourned the case to May 19 this year for sentence, pending a community service order report. The defendant was granted cash bail of $5,000.
The case arose from a corruption complaint referred by the FSD. Subsequent ICAC enquiries revealed the above offence of misconduct in public office.
The court heard that at the material time, the defendant was a Senior Ambulanceman of the FSD posted to its Lam Tin Ambulance Depot.
To ensure that the Fire Services Communication Centre (FSCC) could make accurate, efficient and timely deployment of ambulances to the scenes of incidents, the Third Generation Mobilising System (TGMS) was installed on each ambulance.
When manning an ambulance as the Ambulance Supervisor, the defendant must ensure that the GPS of TGMS installed on the ambulance was switched on at all times.
The court heard that between September 1, 2013 and January 22, 2014, the defendant wilfully and intentionally misconducted himself by deactivating the GPS on the ambulances he manned on 204 occasions, mostly during journey of conveying patients to hospitals.
After handing over patients to the accident and emergency departments of the hospitals on those occasions, the defendant manually inputted false locations of the ambulances into the Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) of TGMS installed on those ambulances.
Most of the locations inputted by the defendant into the MDT were remote areas, such as a hill or a cemetery. They were far away from any hospital and not on the route to his designated depots, including the Lam Tin Ambulance Depot.
As a result, staff members of the FSCC were misled to believe that the ambulances manned by the defendant were not available for emergency duties at areas close to the true locations of those ambulances, the court was told.
The FSD had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation.
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Public Prosecutor Jonathan Lin, assisted by ICAC officer Mon Chan.
Appearing in the District Court today, Yu Sum-fat Troson-Zab, 54, pleaded guilty to one count of misconduct in public office, contrary to Common Law.
Judge Gary Lam Kar-yan adjourned the case to May 19 this year for sentence, pending a community service order report. The defendant was granted cash bail of $5,000.
The case arose from a corruption complaint referred by the FSD. Subsequent ICAC enquiries revealed the above offence of misconduct in public office.
The court heard that at the material time, the defendant was a Senior Ambulanceman of the FSD posted to its Lam Tin Ambulance Depot.
To ensure that the Fire Services Communication Centre (FSCC) could make accurate, efficient and timely deployment of ambulances to the scenes of incidents, the Third Generation Mobilising System (TGMS) was installed on each ambulance.
When manning an ambulance as the Ambulance Supervisor, the defendant must ensure that the GPS of TGMS installed on the ambulance was switched on at all times.
The court heard that between September 1, 2013 and January 22, 2014, the defendant wilfully and intentionally misconducted himself by deactivating the GPS on the ambulances he manned on 204 occasions, mostly during journey of conveying patients to hospitals.
After handing over patients to the accident and emergency departments of the hospitals on those occasions, the defendant manually inputted false locations of the ambulances into the Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) of TGMS installed on those ambulances.
Most of the locations inputted by the defendant into the MDT were remote areas, such as a hill or a cemetery. They were far away from any hospital and not on the route to his designated depots, including the Lam Tin Ambulance Depot.
As a result, staff members of the FSCC were misled to believe that the ambulances manned by the defendant were not available for emergency duties at areas close to the true locations of those ambulances, the court was told.
The FSD had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation.
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Public Prosecutor Jonathan Lin, assisted by ICAC officer Mon Chan.