Hong Kong taxi driver beaten by mob denies he was paid to ram car into crowd of protesters

Henry Cheng says he cannot remember how vehicle lost control because he was under attack, but insists he has ‘clear conscience’

Cheng says he doesn’t hate those who battered him in notorious Sham Shui Po incident that left two seriously injured

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Brutalised taxi driver Henry Cheng receives treatment at the scene after the taxi he was driving ploughed into a crowd, seriously injuring a woman. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:30am, 16 Oct 2019Updated: 10:47am, 16 Oct 2019

A taxi driver beaten by vigilantes has denied he was paid to plough into a crowd of Hong Kong protesters, adding he had no idea how the car lost control because he was under attack at the time.

In an exclusive interview with the Post, Henry Cheng Kwok-chuen, 59, also said he did not hate those who had left him with several fractured ribs and in need of four stitches to his head.

Cheng has recounted his version of events, which started with him driving in Sham Shui Po on October 6 during an anti-government protest against the introduction of the mask ban a day earlier.

Henry Cheng Kwok-chuen shows some of his injuries during an interview with the Post. Photo: Cannix Yau

A 23-year-old woman reportedly suffered serious fractures to both her legs after the taxi mounted the pavement outside the Cheung Sha Wan government offices, before smashing into a shop front.

The Hospital Authority refused to release information on the injured woman’s condition at the request of her family.

Responding to rumours he was paid to hit protesters, he said: “I have a clear conscience. I never received money for deliberately ramming my vehicle into the protesters.

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