Hong Kong police officer changed detail in statement related to alleged Occupy assault, court hears
Policeman giving evidence denied that alteration was made to support his colleague's allegation
A policeman altered a statement given by a suspect arrested during the Occupy protests in November to say that the suspect punched another officer in Mong Kok with his right hand rather than his left hand, a court heard yesterday.
Taking the stand, Occupy supporter Kwok Wing-sang, 19, said the first statement police officer Ng Siu-lun took stated Kwok "used his left fist to punch the left side of PC 3614's face", referring to policeman Hon Tak-ching.
Kwok, a Diploma of Secondary Education student, testified he took a copy of the statement to a police cell where he was detained. Ng later collected that copy from him and gave him a new copy after 15 to 30 minutes.
According to the new statement, Kwok punched the right side of Hon's face with his right fist - which is now the key allegation in the assault case at Kowloon City Court. Kwok was standing behind Hon at the time, the court heard.
Kwok pleaded not guilty yesterday to one count of assaulting a police officer.
Ng, who was also giving evidence, dismissed defence lawyer Victor Cheung Chi-fai's suggestion he altered the statement to support Hon's allegation.