American lawyer jailed for assaulting police officer during Hong Kong protests ‘acted in self-defence’, appeal court told
- Samuel Phillip Bickett had been prompted to ‘neutralise’ threat posed by off-duty officer, who had raised metal stick and pointed his finger at passer-by, court hears
- US national, 37, was sentenced to 4½ months’ jail in July for assaulting police officer
A lawyer jailed for grappling with a plain-clothes policeman during the 2019 social unrest in Hong Kong acted in self-defence after the baton-wielding constable denied being in the force, an appeal court heard on Monday.
A senior counsel representing Samuel Phillip Bickett told the High Court the 37-year-old had been prompted to “neutralise” the threat posed by the off-duty officer, who had raised a metal stick and pointed his finger at a passer-by during a skirmish without identifying himself after being asked if he was “popo”, a slang term for police.
The incident took place on a staircase inside Causeway Bay MTR station on December 7, 2019, three months after the police force approved the use of retractable batons by off-duty officers to execute “constabulary duties” during the anti-government protests.
A magistrate convicted Bickett in June after ruling he had punched Senior Constable Yu Shu-sang and knelt on his chest in a bid to snatch his baton, which the officer had earlier used in a failed attempt to intercept a man who allegedly jumped a turnstile.
On Monday, defence counsel Edwin Choy Wai-bond SC argued that it was “perfectly justifiable” for his client to subdue the officer, who appeared agitated by the purported fare dodger escaping. It was especially so when the latter denied being a “popo”, an expression commonly used during the unrest.
“The evidence of the defendant was that, at that point, he thought that it was dangerous to have this excited man still holding onto his baton,” Choy said. “All he wanted to do was to get control of the baton before any further violence took place.”
