Actor disputes beating
Actor Tony Leung Ka-fai yesterday told a court he wanted to bash a bus driver with whom he had been in an accident, but was unable to get close enough to strike him more than once.
Chong Pui-kin, 48, is suing Leung for HK$3.2 million, claiming the actor punched him repeatedly in the back while grabbing him around the neck after an accident in the Cross-Harbour Tunnel on November 9, 2002. Mr Chong claims the beating left him permanently disabled with severe back pain.
But Leung said the driver was lying. He told the court that the driver had come towards him and said: 'Oh, I recognise you now. You are Leung Ka-fai and you have been drinking alcohol.'
Leung said he believed the driver was shifting the blame to him so he asked whether Mr Chong was going to frame him now that he knew who he was. 'He said to me, 'If I don't frame you now, when should I do it?' ... and then I hit him,' Leung said.
Leung said he tried to grab the driver's arm as he ran away, but a bus supervisor restrained him. He denied that he had punched Mr Chong in the back. 'I didn't do as he alleged,' he said. 'I hit him on the face once and then he alleged a serious back injury. How can I accept that?'
The hearing continues before Mr Justice Darryl Saw in the Court of First Instance on Monday.
