A former police superintendent turned lawyer has defended a fellow officer against abuse allegations made by a taxi driver, and shed tears after winning the case yesterday.
'Bad cops should be charged and good cops should be helped. In this case, [the driver] obviously wanted to frame him,' Peter Chow Pak-chu said outside Eastern Court.
About 20 officers were present to hear the ruling and embraced Sergeant Chow Yat-kit as he walked free.
Earlier this week Chow Yat-kit, a sergeant with the Stanley patrol sub-unit, pleaded not guilty to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Magistrate Douglas Yau Tak-hong cleared him of the charge, saying the driver's testimony was inconsistent.
The lawyer, a 28-year veteran of the force, told Mr Yau after the ruling: 'I feel very emotional. A police officer has been treated in such a way.'
The taxi driver, Chow Chung-sun, 52, had said the sergeant injured his ribs, punched the back of his neck and shoulders, and verbally abused him when officers held him in custody over a traffic offence on October 20 last year.