Unrepentant Hong Kong woman avoids jail after throwing coins towards judges over ruling by another court that cost her HK$37,000
- Lai Yung, 50, remained defiant as she refused to promise to never reoffend
- Defendant had been ordered to undergo psychiatric assessment in a civil case
A woman who threw coins towards three Hong Kong judges because she was angry about a ruling made by another court was found guilty of common assault and given a suspended jail sentence on Wednesday.
But Lai Yung, 50, remained defiant as she refused to promise to never reoffend, and voiced her intention to appeal immediately after she was sentenced to 10 days in prison, suspended for two years.
Eastern Court heard Lai, who had pleaded not guilty, threw two 10 cent and one 50 cent coins from a public gallery in the High Court when Court of Appeal vice-president Andrew Macrae and justices Ian McWalters and Derek Pang Wai-cheong were hearing an appeal on June 20 last year.
Nobody was hurt as the coins clinked against wooden panels of the judges’ bench. But court employee Chu Chiu-wan, who was sitting next to the bench at the time, said the noise scared and worried her. “What if the coins had hit me?” she testified.
Lai, on the other hand, contended that Chu was lying as the coins were too small to give her reason to worry.
She also argued that she had aimed her throw towards an unoccupied area and said it was never her intention to hit anyone or cause them to worry about their safety or being assaulted.
“I wanted someone to know what happened [to me],” she said. “Judges can get away with pressuring people, so I threw coins towards the passage next to the bench where there was no one.”
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Magistrate Veronica Heung Shuk-han was told the defendant’s grievances stemmed from another court’s handling of her civil claim, in which Lai was ordered to undergo psychiatric assessment – at a cost of HK$37,000 (US$4,744) – despite her protests.
But Heung rejected Lai’s evidence as she questioned why the defendant would go to judges not relevant to the case and keep mum while venting her frustration.
Given Chu’s proximity to the coins, Heung found her reaction normal and said that Lai must have realised her conduct would cause worry.
Heung then concluded it was unreasonable for Lai to proceed with her actions, which she called violent.
“Will you go to find innocent judges again?” the magistrate asked after she found Lai guilty of one count of common assault.
Lai replied: “I don’t know if the court will ask me to spend tens of thousands on something useless again. I need a channel to complain.”
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Prosecutors said the nature of the incident was similar to that of contempt of court, and cited a past case to explain the need for immediate imprisonment when there was an adverse effect upon the free administration of justice.
But the magistrate eventually decided against immediate imprisonment after considering Lai had not planned the attack or injured anyone.
