Ma Shi Po Land Occupiers Resist Injunction and Continue Unlawful Land Occupation Henderson Land Takes Action to Erect Hoardings

Henderson Land Development Company Limited (“the Company”) will today send its staff to Ma Shi Po again to request its former tenant, Mr Au Lau Kan and his associates, to leave the piece of land owned by the Company. At the same time, a team of workers will enter the site to erect hoardings, fencing off the area to protect the land from further unlawful occupation.

On 23rd May 2016, the High Court granted an injunction to a subsidiary of the Company, Best Galaxy Limited, which restrains these individuals from further trespassing actions, and specifically from wrongfully occupying and using, hindering access to or egress from, or obstructing the Company’s employees, contractors and agents from entering or using the piece of land in Ma Shi Po. On 27th May 2016, the High Court further extended the injunction until the judgment is concluded or until further notice by the Court.

Despite it being almost two weeks since the High Court granted the injunction order, Mr Au and his associates have refused to leave the land and have continued their unlawful occupation. Today, the Company once again urges Mr Au and his associates to vacate the land peacefully and refrain from any further actions that could cause harm to themselves and to others. To avoid any reoccurrence of obstruction to the Company’s site workers and any further harmful actions by these individuals, the Company has once again commissioned a professional team of security staff to protect the site workers and perform crowd control. If anyone continues to stay inside the injunction area, or attempts to charge at the security staff or obstruct the site workers, thereby violating the injunction order, the Company will report their actions to the Police and they may be convicted of Contempt of Court.

About the interim injunction
On 23rd May 2016, the High Court granted the application by a subsidiary of Henderson Land Development Company Limited, Best Galaxy Limited (“the Company”), for an injunction that restrains all people from continuing the “Trespassing Actions”, namely wrongfully occupying and using, hindering access to or egress from, or obstructing the Company’s employees, contractors and agents from entering or using a piece of land in Ma Shi Po. On 27th May 2016, the High Court further extended the injunction until the judgment is concluded or until further notice by the Court. Any person who violates the injunction may be convicted of Contempt of Court and could be sent to prison, fined or have their property seized.

The background
The Company previously rented a piece of 5,500-square-foot of land in Ma Shi Po to a tenant, Mr Au. The tenancy was terminated in 2007, but Mr Au has steadfastly refused to return possession of the land and has been unlawfully occupying it for 9 years. In order to repossess the land peacefully, the Company has attempted to negotiate with Mr Au to reach an agreement with him for its return. These negotiations included an offer of compensation by the Company, and even an offer of another piece of land for lease in exchange. Unfortunately, Mr Au has rejected all of these offers, leaving the Company no option but to resort to legal action to resolve the matter.

In March 2015, the Court granted a judgment ordering Mr Au to return possession of the aforesaid parcel of land to the Company. On 23rd March 2016, a court bailiff delivered possession of the land to the Company pursuant to the judgment. However, Mr Au and his associates ignored the judgment and unlawfully re-entered the land, and even expanded their occupation to the adjacent parcel of land. Moreover, they have continually tried to rally the public to join them. Therefore, the Company successfully applied to the High Court for an injunction. Regrettably, since the injunction took effect on 23rd May 2016, Mr Au and his associates have continued their occupation. The Company has sent representatives to the land and repeatedly requested them to leave, but Mr Au and his associates have disregarded the law and are still refusing to hand over possession.