3 Hongkongers who soaked policemen in Thai Songkran festival jailed for 28 days
Magistrate rejects defence lawyers’ arguments of event’s joyful atmosphere and probation officers’ finding that men fit for community service
Kowloon City Magistrate Philip Chan Chee-fai on Friday said the trio, who were earlier convicted of six assault charges, had splashed water at three auxiliary police constables “in full view of the public”, disrespecting the officers whose duty it was to protect participants at the Songkran festival on April 9, 2023.
He added that taxi driver Tsang Wai-shing, 27, clerk Ip Ka-kin, 28, and steel fixer Yuen Tsz-kin, 32, had failed to pick up on the body language of two journalists from the city’s broadcaster TVB, who appeared to be in pain when the defendants shot water jets at them from close range.
But defence lawyer Joey Yuen, representing Tsang, asked the court to take the celebratory atmosphere of the festivities into consideration, as it showed her client had not intentionally attacked officers.
“This case had its uniqueness. There is no single precedent in Hong Kong law that showed a defendant arrested [for assaulting police officers] during a celebratory event [and there was] no tension happening at the celebration [in 2023],” she said.
The lawyer said Tsang, known by his alias “Brave Dog” on social media, had merely taken part in the festival to film content for his YouTube channel.