Department of Justice recommends prosecution over bar fracas involving police

The son of Nigeria's top diplomat in Hong Kong is expected to be charged today in connection with a fracas at a Wan Chai bar involving five senior police officers.

Oluwaenia Olusanmokun, 20, is due to report to police at about noon today with an unidentified Dutch-Filipino man, 19, who was also arrested after the brawl at the Devil's Advocate in Lockhart Road early on February 3.

Both men had earlier been released on police bail of $1,000 each. A stun-gun was seized in the wake of the incident. No one else was arrested but the officers involved are understood to have given statements to investigators in connection with the case.

A fracas erupted after the officers attended a Burns Supper, a traditional celebration of 18th-century Scottish poet Robert Burns, at police headquarters. It left 35-year-old Michael Armstrong, the Assistant Divisional Commander for Castle Peak, needing hospital treatment after he was hit over the head with a bottle outside the bar.

Senior Inspector Tom Phillipson, who is heading the investigation by Hong Kong Island Regional Crime Unit, said yesterday: 'The bail conditions remain the same as they were when the two men were released. A full statement will be released tomorrow.'

But the South China Morning Post understands that the recommendation from the Department of Justice is that the prosecution should go ahead.