Police criticised for taking statement in Chinese
A coroner yesterday criticised police for taking a statement in Chinese from an English speaker.
'I have never imagined, heard of or seen such an arrangement. It is ridiculous,' Coroner Michael Chan Pik-kiu said, angrily criticising Inspector Chan Yuk-man for asking a police officer to take the statement from Sean Coxall in relation to the death of his daughter.
The officer asked the questions in Cantonese, translated for the father by an interpreter, who then translated the answers into Cantonese.
'English is a statutory language. How could you ask an officer who did not know English to take the statement?' the coroner asked.
Chan apologised five times. 'It was my negligence. It should have been done in English,' she said.
In the statement, the father said his daughter excelled at her school work and wanted to be a fashion designer and an actress.
