The widow of a Nepali shot dead by a police constable on a Ho Man Tin hillside will seek a judicial review after a Coroner's Court jury returned a verdict of lawful killing yesterday.
Sony Rai, widow of Dil Bahadur Limbu, and community groups helping her, expressed anger at the lack of any recommendations in the case, which prompted accusations of insensitivity by the police in dealing with ethnic minorities.
But the verdict was a relief for Constable Hui Ka-ki, 31, who had faced the possibility of an unlawful-killing verdict during the eight- month hearing. A police spokesman said they respected the ruling and stressed it was an unfortunate event.
Rai's lawyer, Michael Vidler, said they would seek a judicial review but he declined to say anything further about it at this stage.
Hui fired two shots at Limbu on March 17 last year, saying he felt his life was threatened when the 30-year-old street sleeper attacked him with the legs of a chair. One of the shots hit Limbu in the head. Hui said he had failed to subdue him with his baton and pepper spray after the Nepali refused to show his identity card.
At the end of the 76-day inquest, with 59 witnesses, the five jurors decided that Hui did not use excessive force, which determines whether the killing was lawful or unlawful.
