A former chicken trader, whose protest on top of a Central footbridge in June led to the death of a police officer, was sentenced to 100 hours of community service yesterday for obstructing a public place.
Lau Yuk-tong's rooftop demand for government compensation over the loss of his chicken transport business snarled up rush-hour traffic from Sheung Wan to North Point for three hours on a rainy day.
The stunt caused 'substantial disturbance to the public', Magistrate David Dufton said.
The magistrate made no mention of the death of Detective Sergeant Lau Chi-kin, 49, who slipped and fell four metres onto the Exchange Square podium trying to reach the protester. The 30-year veteran of the force, based in Central Police Station, died in Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam after suffering brain injuries and chest fractures. He is survived by his wife and daughter.
The death prompted a remorseful Lau, 62, to apologise for his actions on the same day by kneeling on the street in front of the media.
Yesterday, he appeared contrite and without a lawyer in Eastern Court. When asked if he wished to speak, he said, with his head bowed: 'I hope your lordship can be lenient to me.' Outside court, he said only that he had nothing to say.
Lau carried out an escalating series of vocal protests after his business went under during the 2008 bird flu scare. Many in the poultry trade were given compensation for damages suffered when the government ordered thousands of chickens killed and took other steps that disrupted the city's poultry industry. But Lau, who transported day-old chickens from the mainland to Hong Kong farms, was not.
