Hong Kong  - A Hong Kong cop convicted of mugging a woman is the third police officer in his family to be arrested for a serious crime, a news report said Wednesday.

Senior constable Leung Wai-hung, 44, pleaded guilty to theft after grabbing a 53-year-old woman's handbag and punching and kicking her as she lay on the ground in July
2008.

Leung, who committed the robbery because of his heavy gambling debts, appeared Tuesday in court and will be sentenced on March 18, the South China Morning Post reported.

His crime completes a hat-trick of serious crimes for which his family, which includes four police officers, has been arrested, the newspaper said.

Leung's father, a former sergeant, was charged with murder after shooting his chief inspector dead in 1994 but acquitted after claiming the gun went off accidentally.

His younger brother was jailed for six years in 2002 after being convicted of abducting a child for a 1.9-million-US-dollar ransom in a plot hatched with triad gang members.

An elder brother of Leung is still a serving police officer and has not been accused of any crime. (dpa)