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Occupy student found guilty and fined HK$2,000 for police assault

An Occupy supporter was convicted yesterday of assaulting a police officer after a magistrate dismissed as groundless the student's accusation that police had altered his statement.

An Occupy supporter was convicted yesterday of assaulting a police officer after a magistrate dismissed as groundless the student's accusation that police had altered his statement.

Handing down his verdict on 18-year-old Kwok Wing-sang, Deputy Magistrate Edward Wong Ching-yu said not only was there a lack of noticeable changes in the text in question, but the defence also failed to substantiate its claims by calling expert witnesses on calligraphy.

"There were no grounds that the statement had been amended," Wong said in Kowloon City Court, fining Kwok HK$2,000.

He also ordered Kwok to pay HK$2,000 for the goggles he knocked off policeman Hon Tak-ching's face on November 25.

Kwok, a self-study student, previously told the court that he was shown a statement which alleged that he used his left fist to punch the left side Hon's face.

But shortly afterwards, he was given another statement that suggested he attacked Hon's right side using his right fist.

The magistrate said yesterday that Hon's credibility was not lessened just because he failed to mention the presence of a bald man in his first statement and included him in a second statement, after the policeman had seen video footage of the incident. The judge said the man was "not an important detail".

Instead, Wong challenged Kwok on why he'd go up and pat Hon's shoulder, to remind him of an unattended suspect, despite claiming to be just a passer-by.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Occupy student guilty of police assault
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