Officers 'puzzled' by man's injuries
Police officers at the station where an 18-year-old was found dead in his cell have told an inquest they had no idea how he got his injuries.
Station Sergeant Wong Koon-fat was on duty at Sheung Shui police station on the night of March 19. He told the Coroner's Court he visited the detention cell seven times from 11.46pm to 6.08am on March 20, when Li Ka-ming was found dead.
Li, a transport worker, had been detained because he had jumped bail on a theft charge last October and had surrendered on March 19. He was due to appear in Sha Tin Court the following morning but died while in police custody. His family believe he was beaten to death.
'When I first visited him at 11.46pm, he was sleeping already,' Sergeant Wong said. 'He was snoring very loudly. I called out his name to confirm his identity. After calling him three times, he responded.' He did not detect anything unusual but he noticed that Li's snoring had become quieter on his fifth visit at 3.35am. Li was seen lying on the bed on his stomach. Sergeant Wong said he did not wake him up, believing that he was all right.
Li was only found to be unconscious when breakfast was delivered to him and he made no response to officers' calls at around 7am, the court heard.
'Two officers shouted to me from the detention cell telling me that Li could not be woken up, so I immediately rushed to the cell. He was still lying on his stomach. When I touched him, he was quite cold already,' Sergeant Wong said.
The station sergeant turned Li over with the help of another officer.
'But he was not breathing and he hadn't got any pulse. There was a patch of bruising on his left cheek and some brownish fluid was coming from his mouth,' Sergeant Wong recalled.
He said he had not seen the bruise when he visited the cell during the night.
Sergeant Wong tried to resuscitate him but could not get a pulse, the court heard. Li was taken to Northern District Hospital.
Li's mother, Cheung Kin-ping, told the inquest on Monday that hospital nurses had been shocked at the extent of his injuries.
Other police officers yesterday told the inquest that Li was courteous while in custody.
The inquest continues today before Coroner Paul Kelly.
