Damages suit filed against sergeant acquitted of murder A sergeant cleared of murdering a suspect he shot during a police operation will be forced to appear in court again after a damages suit was filed against him yesterday. In March last year, Mr Justice Thomas Gall ordered a Court of First Instance jury to find Detective Sergeant Choi Hok-yin, 43, not guilty of murder over the death of Lam Cho-kin. Lam, 24, died after being shot in the neck while sitting in a van on Ma Tau Kok Road, Kowloon City, on June 26, 2001. The court heard Sergeant Choi had suspected the vehicle was carrying stolen goods. Yesterday, Lam Kang, the father of the dead man, filed a High Court writ against Sergeant Choi and the Secretary for Justice. His claim is for 'damages and loss of dependency and interest'. In the writ, the sergeant is said to have 'unlawfully or otherwise negligently opened fire on the deceased causing his death ... in the course of [Choi's] duty as a police officer'. Last year, the court heard that Sergeant Choi, a policeman for 21 years, approached Lam's light goods vehicle at a traffic light on suspicion it contained stolen vehicle parts. The van was later found to contain stolen parts worth $100,000. The officer claimed that when he walked in front of the van he believed Lam realised he was a police officer and was reaching for a weapon. Drawing his gun, Sergeant Choi pointed at the van and demanded Lam stop. But the van sped towards him and clipped his shooting hand, causing the gun to go off, he said. Sergeant Choi was found to have sustained an injury to that hand. Prosecutor Alain Sham told the court the sergeant was charged after he was unable to provide an excuse for discharging his weapon. But Sergeant Choi's defence counsel, Gerard McCoy, said the prosecution had failed to take into account his client's explanation. He asked where the evidence was of the sergeant's intention to cause death or serious bodily harm.
