One of the two defendants accused of assisting slain model Abby Choi Tin-fung’s ex-husband in a failed attempt to flee Hong Kong has said she only acted as a messenger to help connect several of the parties together, including a yacht rental agent.

Prosecutors on Tuesday played in court a 44-minute video of Irene Pun Hau-yin being questioned by a female police officer following her arrest. Pun said she had known the other defendant, Lam Shun, and another suspect, identified only as Ivy, since the 2010s.

Unemployed Pun and Lam, a yacht rental agent at the time, earlier pleaded not guilty to a joint charge of conspiracy to pervert the course of public justice.

They are accused of helping Alex Kwong Kong-chi in an unsuccessful escape attempt on February 25, 2023, the day after Choi’s dismembered remains were discovered in a three-storey village house in Tai Po’s Lung Mei Tsuen.

Ivy, a Macau resident, was also named in the trial but was not listed as a defendant. She is accused of conspiring with the other two to help Kwong.

The video played in court included voice messages between Ivy and Pun on the social media platform WeChat.