Whistling loudly close to a person is form of assault, court hears
High energy sound can impact another person, prosecution tells the court, which will decide if protester who whistled at police broke the law
Whistling loudly at police officers is a form of assault because it involves the impact of sound energy, the Eastern Court was told yesterday.
Prosecutor Jonathan Man Tak-ho said whistling constituted assault even if there was no physical contact because people should be protected from any form of physical molestation.
Man was speaking during the trial of construction worker Ki Chun-kei, 50, who has pleaded not guilty to five charges of assaulting five auxiliary police officers by whistling at them through his fingers during the annual July 1 protest march this year.
Man referred to a 2003 precedent in which protester Sunny Leung Chun-wai was found guilty of assault and jailed for two months for shouting through a loudhailer into a police officer's ears.
Sound can become an unlawful use of force if it is used intentionally or recklessly without the implied consent of victims, Man said. "No matter [whether] it is a loudhailer, a whistle or a human vocal cord, it can emit sound energy, and under some circumstances constitutes assault."
Such whistling is different from normal, everyday whistling, he said.
"[Ki] used great force and high frequency. He leaned forward and whistled at close range."