Angry fare cleared of taxi damage
An accountant accused of denting a taxi cleared his name yesterday after refusing to pay $500 to avoid a court case.
Christopher Brown, 29, admitted angrily slamming a taxi door after the driver took a wrong turn and then ordered him, his wife and a friend to get out. But he denied kicking the back of the cab.
He told Eastern Court two policemen called to the scene only spoke to taxi driver Ng Wa-chun.
Mr Brown said that he was then ordered to Wan Chai police station by officer Lee Siu-cheong, who was in the news recently because a restaurateur parked a Mercedes on his foot.
Mr Brown told the court: 'The police said that if I paid $500 to the driver, I could go home, but if I didn't I would be arrested.' The accountant chose to be arrested, adamant he had done nothing wrong.
The 31-year-old driver claimed that Mr Brown was drunk when the trio got into the taxi outside Causeway Bay Plaza in the early hours of November 9.
He said Mr Brown got out and kicked his car after he refused to turn into Tai Wo Street from Johnston Road, Wan Chai.
But Magistrate David Lok cleared Mr Brown of criminal damage, saying the taxi driver's version of events was exaggerated and inconsistent.
His ruling came after sending both sides out to try to resolve the 'trivial' issue.
