Pop star Tse faces courts

Nicholas Tse (right) attended court with his father

Hong Kong pop star Nicholas Tse has gone on trial in Hong Kong on charges of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

The singer, 21, is accused of letting his chauffeur take the blame for a car crash in March, even though Mr Tse was allegedly behind the wheel.

Mr Tse and Lau Chi-wai, a police officer accused in the conspiracy, have both pleaded innocent.

Prosecutors said Mr Tse rang his chauffeur, Shing Kwok-ting, after crashing the car at around dawn on 23 March.

Mr Shing told the singer to leave the scene of the accident and promised to take care of the matter.

He later allegedly phoned the singer to say police had allowed him to "stand in as the driver of the sports car, and Tse agreed".

Mr Lau is said to have then taken Mr Shing to a nearby police station and had him fill out forms which indicate that he owned the vehicle and was driving when it crashed.

Tse was a winner at 2002's World Music Awards

He also allegedly told another police officer to write a false witness statement which was signed by both men.

Mr Shing pleaded guilty to conspiring to pervert the course of justice in May and was sentenced to four months in prison.

Both Mr Tse and Mr Lau had been released on bail pending the trial. It is unclear what sentence they may receive if found guilty.

The son of movie star Patrick Tse Yin, who accompanied him to court, Mr Tse began performing at the age of 15 and released his first record in 1997.

He is now one of the Canto pop scene's biggest stars, winning a 2002 World Music Award for being China's biggest selling artist.

Mr Tse was recently involved in a dispute with a Taiwanese paparazzi photographer who claimed he lashed out at him outside a restaurant. The pair reached a settlement in court.

The star has since threatened to leave Hong Kong claiming he is under too much pressure from the paparazzi.