Hong Kong prosecutors drop manslaughter charges against tour guides over death of mainland Chinese visitor
Prosecution lowered charges to assault after prosecutors accepted victim had died of a heart attack
Two tour escorts allegedly involved in a dispute at a Hong Kong jewellery shop that led to the death of a mainland tourist last year are no longer accused of unlawful killing after prosecutors accepted the man had died of a heart attack.
Hong Kong tour escort Ricky Woo Yin-nam, 44, and Shenzhen tour guide Liu Yang, 32, faced several counts of lesser assault charges on Wednesday after prosecutors scaled down their charges from manslaughter, Kowloon City Court heard.
READ MORE: Mainland tourist dies day after being ‘beaten unconscious’ while intervening in fracas at Hong Kong jewellery shop
The prosecutors revised the charges after being informed by a forensic pathologist that 54-year-old Miao Chunqi had died of a heart attack.
Woo and Yiu had originally been accused of killing Miao in a tussle that broke out at the D2 Jewellery Shop in Hung Hom in October last year.
Liu and Woo were both charged with common assault on Wednesday. Liu pleaded guilty to four counts, while Woo denied two counts.
Liu admitted assaulting Miao and his friend Zhang Lixia. He will be sentenced on Friday. Woo will attend a pre-trial hearing on March 30.
Another tour guide allegedly involved in the case, Deng Haiyan, 32, absconded the hearing yesterday and a warrant was issued for her arrest.
The court heard that Liu pushed and kicked Miao and grabbed his neck.
READ MORE: Tourism watchdog probes low price tours, ‘forced’ shopping in wake of mainland Chinese man killed in jewellery shop
Miao eventually collapsed to the ground and was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei. He died the following day, but while a postmortem examination report showed he suffered from abrasions and bruises it also revealed he had a heart condition.
In mitigation, Liu’s barrister, Oliver Davies, said his client was only involved in dragging Miao out of the shop, and hence should be considered to be at the low end of the charges he faced.
But he asked why it had taken so long for the prosecution to amend the charge despite Miao’s report being made available days after his death.
A spokesman for the Department of Justice denied there had been a delay and said they had not received the report until December 30.