Rugby player fined over assault in Wan Chai
An amateur rugby player who claimed he was provoked into punching a former colleague on the nose outside a Wan Chai bar was yesterday fined $2,000 for the assault.
Laurie Albert Kane, a law student at a British university, came to Hong Kong for the Rugby Tens Competition a few days before the incident took place on March 17 this year.
The 23-year-old yesterday pleaded guilty to a charge of assault causing bodily harm to a Nepalese man, Samar Gurung, 42, in Lockhart Road, Wan Chai.
Principal Magistrate Ian Candy, in the Eastern Court, agreed to impose a relatively low fine, instead of a jail term, because the offence was relatively light.
The court heard Kane went out to Wan Chai on the evening before the rugby competition.
He encountered a group of six Nepalis outside a bar in Lockhart Road.
The court was told Kane grabbed the victim with both arms and then punched him once on the nose.
He fled the scene immediately, but was soon arrested by the police.
Under caution, the defendant refused to speak and the police noticed that he smelled of alcohol.
His solicitor, Andrew Powner, urged the court to be lenient. He said the defendant had been provoked into violence following a heated argument with Mr Gurung, about the latter's sacking by his father.
The defendant used to work with Mr Gurung on a building project in which his father was a sub-contractor, Mr Powner said.
The court heard the defendant was spat upon, and that he lashed out in response, hitting the victim on the nose and causing a laceration 1cm long.
The lawyer said the physical attack was entirely out of character for Kane, and that the defendant's wife is expecting the birth of their first child next month.
