A senior inspector who was shot in the head at point-blank range in one of Hong Kong's most heated gunbattles has filed for damages against his former superintendent and the police commissioner.
Senior Inspector Chan Sze-ki, who was 25 at the time of the shooting on April 24, 1992, narrowly escaped death when robber Fung Wai-hon shot him in the nose. The bullet passed through the top of his skull.
Last August, Inspector Chan, who has lost his sense of smell and now suffers from poor short-term memory, underwent a fourth operation to mend a one-centimetre hole in his skull.
Speaking just three days after the operation, he said: 'Since last year my condition has deteriorated. I have shaky hands and worsening eyesight.'
Yesterday, Inspector Chan filed a High Court writ naming the Justice Department - for the Commissioner of the Hong Kong Police Force - and Chief Superintendent Trevor John Oakes as defendants.
He is accusing the two of negligence and is seeking an undisclosed sum in compensation.
During the attack in which Inspector Chan was shot, a gang of five robbers hijacked three vehicles, fired high-powered weapons, including an AK-47, and threw four grenades among lunchtime shoppers to evade police.