Hong Kong / Law and Crime
Former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten’s son-in-law faces jail time over restaurant shooting
- Elton Charles, 51, husband of Laura Patten, convicted of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence
- Defendant earlier accused of acting as getaway driver and helping his half-brother execute attack at Indian restaurant
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Sammy Heung
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Published: 4:30pm, 17 Aug, 2023
The son-in-law of Hong Kong’s last governor Chris Patten is facing jail time after he was convicted for his role in a shooting at an Indian restaurant in London last year.
Elton Charles, 51, the husband of Laura Patten, was convicted of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence at Kingston Crown Court on Tuesday, according to British media.
His wife was reported to have “put her head in her hands and wept” as the verdict was announced after a five-week trial.
Charles was earlier accused by the prosecution of acting as the getaway driver and assisting his half-brother Nathaniel St Aimie in executing the attack.
Elton Charles, the son-in-law of Hong Kong’s last governor Chris Patten, has been convicted of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. Photo: Handout
St Aimie had previously pleaded guilty to the same charge. Co-defendants Nicolas Grant, 46, and Lee Morgan, 42 were also convicted for allegedly supplying the weapons.
The shooting occurred on September 6 of last year as part of an effort to terrorise the owners of the PBK curry house in Greenford, west London.
CCTV footage played to the jurors at the trial depicted a hooded gunman stepping out of a white Volkswagen van before heading towards the restaurant and opening fire.
The shotgun smashed the window but no diners were killed in the process, which was described by the prosecutors as sheer “good fortune”.
Judge Jonathan Davies had complimented a customer for his bravery as footage showed he tried to shield children from the bullets.
Charles claimed he had no idea about the shooting and was shocked by his own arrest.
He testified in court that his brother had sent him texts using a burner phone on the day of the shooting and said he wanted to meet up in Greenford to share some cannabis.
Charles also said he had specifically left his house to see St Aimie because “his wife didn’t like him smoking” and was later asked by his brother to “hang around” after they met.
(From left) Laura and Kate Patten stand alongside their father Chris Patten on board the Royal Yacht Britannia as they leave Hong Kong in 1997. Photo: K. Y. Cheng
He also claimed he was told to follow St Aimie’s Volkswagen in his black van and they would go smoke some cannabis.
Charles quoted St Aimie as saying, “Give me a minute” before the attack at the restaurant and added he had no idea what his “stupid” brother was doing.
The defendants were released on conditional bail and will appear in court on September 15 for sentencing.
The Telegraph wrote that Charles and his wife met in the mid-1990s and were “devoted” friends for years before their engagement in June 2001 and marriage in 2002.
Charles told the court that he and six other siblings were raised by his West Indian single-parent mother, and had worked as a painter and decorator after graduating from school at 16.
After his marriage to Patten, he worked as the building manager for the Groucho Club in Soho.
Charles said his wife had “been a Pilates instructor for some years” after working as a beauty journalist for Tatler.
The couple earned around £120,000 (US$152,722) a year and had a £1.5 million home with a mortgage, he added.
Charles’ father-in-law, Chris Patten, became the 28th and last governor of Hong Kong in 1992. His five-year tenure ended in July 1997 as he oversaw Hong Kong’s handover to China.
He was known for his penchant for egg tart and was nicknamed “Fat Pang” by the Hong Kong people.
He has three daughters Kate, Laura and Alice. The latter two were remembered by the Hongkongers for shedding tears before boarding the royal yacht Britannia to leave the city with their parents in 1997.
He was elected Chancellor of the University of Oxford in 2003.
Patten has been an outspoken critic of the Chinese government’s handling of Hong Kong and has claimed Beijing breached the promise of guaranteeing a “high degree of autonomy” for the city for 50 years following its handover.
