Hong Kong - A Hong Kong policeman on Thursday began a 28-month jail term for mugging a woman to get money to clear his gambling debts.

Leung Wai-hung, 44, snatched a 53-year-old woman's handbag in July, then kicked her as she lay on the ground as he tried to get money to pay off gambling debts of more than 50,000 US dollars.

Bizarrely, Leung is the third police officer in his family to be arrested for a serious crime, according to evidence presented Wednesday at his sentencing hearing in Hong Kong's District Court.

Leung's father, a former sergeant, was charged with murder after fatally shooting his chief inspector in 1994 but was 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, Thursday's South China Morning Post reported. (dpa)