A Buddhist monk arrested for kicking a man in the face blamed a row over begging space when he appeared in court yesterday.
Ng Wing-fai, 30, who was not officially charged, insisted the victim was not a worshipper but a fellow beggar for alms.
San Po Kong Court heard the pair quarrelled outside the Taoist Wong Tai Sin Temple last Tuesday when more than 10,000 people had gathered to celebrate yan yat (everybody's birthday).
Ng kicked the 30-year-old mainlander, causing his left eye to bleed.
Magistrate David Duggan ordered the monk bound over to keep the peace for a year in the sum of $1,000. He had to pay $300 costs.
Outside the court, the monk said the man he hit was lying on the ground and tugging at his robe in a signal for him to stand elsewhere to beg.