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Cliff Buddle

Two feuding taxi drivers made legal history yesterday when the High Court's Chief Judge allowed a 'unique' appeal.

 Chan Hon-man, 54, was released from a 6.5-month prison term after the judge heard the prosecution's star witness, a rival cab driver, had been discredited in another trial.

 It is the first time an appeal has been granted in these circumstances in Hong Kong.

 Mr Justice Patrick Chan rejected warnings from the Department of Justice that he was taking a dangerous step which would pave the way for similar claims in the future.

 'I am not opening the floodgates. This is a rather exceptional case,' he said.

 Chan was found guilty in April of criminal intimidation, common assault, and inviting the other driver, Chan Yuen-cheong, to become a member of a triad society.

 Magistrate Timothy Jenkins convicted him on the basis that he found Mr Chan, the prime prosecution witness, to be credible.

 But Mr Chan had made similar allegations against another taxi driver at about the same time. Those allegations were the subject of a trial before a different magistrate in June. This time, the witness was not believed.

 James McGowan, defending Chan, said the witness had been discredited by the outcome of the second trial.

 If this information had been available to Chan's lawyers at his trial it could have resulted in a different verdict.

 Mr Justice Chan quashed the convictions and decided not to order a new trial because Chan had already served three months of his sentence.

 The allegations arose from two confrontations in November and December.

 The prosecution had claimed Chan punched his rival at Hunghom Railway Station, demanded money from him, and confronted him again at the Macau ferry pier, inviting him to join the Sun Yee On triad society.



Judge makes legal history as star witness discredited