Man admits he assaulted Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai with animal entrails during Umbrella Movement
Admission comes in court before the outspoken pro-democracy figure testifies how ‘wet and oily’ bags hit him as he left a street tent
A man has admitted throwing animal entrails at media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying at the Admiralty occupation site during the Umbrella Movement in November 2014.
The admission came as Yip Wing-chi, 44, pleaded guilty at the Eastern Court to one count of common assault while his co-defendants Chan Kwok-hung, 30, and Li Siu-lung, 45, denied the same charge.
Yip denied one other count of common assault on another person, while Chan further denied two assault charges.
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The incident took place at about 4:30pm on November 12, 2014, when Lai was about to leave a tent at Harcourt Road in Admiralty.
“Then I heard someone call my name,” Lai testified. “When I turned I felt there was a bag thrown at me. It was putrid and oily.”
The 67-year-old said about four to five more bags of what were later found to be animal entrails were thrown at him in the few seconds it took for him to turn and face his attackers.
Lai was not injured, but the attack splashed entrails across his face and stained his clothes as the bags hit various parts of his body.
“I was in a state of shock,” Lai continued. “Then I saw three people trying to leave [the scene].”