A Hong Kong couple who took their children storm-chasing during Super Typhoon Ragasa last year have been acquitted of child neglect, with the court issuing them a good behaviour order for three years.

The couple, known only by their initials YKK and LRQ, appeared at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday morning.

In March, they were charged with “ill-treatment or neglect by those in charge of child or young person” in relation to an incident on September 23 last year, when a No. 8 typhoon signal was in effect due to Super Typhoon Ragasa.

The couple went to watch the waves at a waterfront in Chai Wan with their two children. The mother and their five-year-old son were washed away by waves, and the father jumped in to save them.

The three were rescued by a boat operator and firefighters and were later taken to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital. The mother and son were in a critical condition, local media reported at the time.

The couple’s nine-year-old daughter was not injured.

Magistrate Kestrel Lam ordered the two defendants to sign a bind-over order, an agreement between a court and a defendant to maintain good behaviour for a certain period. It is typically used for minor offences that are unlikely to be repeated, and the defendant is not left with a criminal record.

The bind-over order they signed was for a period of three years and in the sum of HK$2,000, meaning they will be fined HK$2,000 if they commit a similar offence during that time.