A 70-year-old woman who suffered broken bones when attacked by an elderly neighbour alleges that, at 14 days, the jail sentence given to the neighbour was too lenient and was a miscarriage of justice because two reports on the extent of her injuries were not submitted to the trial. The assault case against Cheung Shuet-ching, of Wah Kwai Estate, Pok Fu Lam, was heard in Eastern Court on December 8. Cheung, who was 77 when the dispute occurred in 2008, was convicted on December 22. The court heard that the victim, Shum Shun, had a squabble with Cheung on July 30, 2008. Four days later Cheung suddenly attacked her on the fire escape of their building. Shum said yesterday the sentence was too lenient because the prosecutor did not submit medical reports on her fractured knee and upper arm to the trial. She said the magistrate had not known the full extent of her injuries and she wanted the Department of Justice to review the case. During the trial, the prosecutor submitted a medical report by Queen Mary Hospital's accident and emergency department that said Shum had multiple abrasions and bruises, but it did not mention any fractured bones. A report by Dr Katie Lau King-ting of the department of orthopaedics and traumatology - which said 'computed tomography of her left knee confirmed a small marginal osteophyte fracture' not revealed by X-ray - was not submitted. The report was requested by Aberdeen police. A third report, which said 'left shoulder X-ray showed proximal humeral fracture [broken upper arm]', was also not submitted. Shum sought advice from the Bar Association, which said in a letter: 'For unknown reasons, such important evidence was neglected and was not submitted to the court.' It said that strictly speaking, Cheung's conviction for 'wounding or inflicting grievous bodily harm' could not have been substantiated based on the submitted report alone. Legislator Leung Kwok-hung said he raised the issue in Shum's presence with deputy director of public prosecutions Kevin Zervos twice. They last met on November 19 but Leung said yesterday he had not yet received a written response on whether the case would be reviewed. A Department of Justice spokeswoman said yesterday sufficient details of Shum's injuries had been submitted to the trial. The reports not submitted did not warrant a review of the sentence, and it was not a mistake that they were not submitted. 'The injuries were not severe according to the additional specialist report,' Zervos said. Their extent was clear to the magistrate because Shum gave evidence and submitted a letter on the matter before sentencing.
