A MAN was stabbed to death by a group of Vietnamese inmates after he allegedly tried to indecently assault a teenager at High Island detention centre, a Coroner's Court heard yesterday. Dinh Van Vang's second cousin, Dinh Van Nhao, 25, testified that he was awoken by noises inside his hut at the centre in Sai Kung on August 7, 1992. Mr Dinh said he saw 15 to 16 people carrying sharpened weapons standing on the third tier of several bunk beds inside the hut, with Dinh bleeding profusely nearby. But he said the fight was already over at that time. Medical evidence called by Coroner's Officer Allan Wyeth revealed that Dinh died of stab wounds to the chest about an hour after he arrived at hospital. Senior Inspector Tsang Siu-leung, then in charge of District Crime II (Kowloon East), said 17 Vietnamese men had been charged with the murder of Dinh. But he said the prosecution only proceeded with the charge against seven of the defendants. The murder trial commenced last December and ran until March this year. The defendants were discharged after the trial judge in the High Court ruled that they had no case to answer. Although Mr Dinh testified that the fight arose from an alleged theft of a mosquito net by an inmate from another camp, Mr Tsang contended otherwise. ''According to my inquiries, it was found that the deceased had attempted to indecently assault a female inside the hut,'' Mr Tsang said. A group of inmates therefore came to the aid of the 17-year-old girl and attacked Dinh, he said. He said the deceased and three other injured inmates had made up the allegation of stealing to the Correctional Services officers. The hearing, before Coroner Warner Banks and a jury, continues.
