Six people have pleaded guilty at the District Court to perverting the course of justice.

They were among 12 people who tried to flee to Taiwan by speedboat and were intercepted by mainland coastguard in August 2020.

The six who pleaded guilty on Thursday are Liu Tsz-man, Cheng Tsz-ho, Cheung Chun-fu, Cheung Ming-yu, Yim Man-him and Kok Tsz-lun. The alleged offence is said to have been committed between December 2019 and August 2020.

Another defendant, Li Tsz-yin, did not appear in court because he has been listed as a close contact of someone infected with Covid-19 while in custody.