Verdict next month on Hong Kong official accused of failing to implement law on life jackets
Lawyer says assistant director of Marine Department is a ‘sacrificial lamb’ in case arising from Lamma ferry disaster that left 39 dead
A senior Marine Department official accused of failing to ensure there were enough life jackets on vessels inspected by his team will hear the verdict in his misconduct case next month.
So Ping-chi, an assistant director at the department, denies one count of misconduct in public office for allegedly instructing his subordinates not to enforce a provision on children’s life jackets when he was a principal surveyor of ships from April 2007 to March 2013. He is also accused of failing to rescind that instruction.
The trial followed from the Lamma ferry collision of 2012 that cost 39 lives.
District Court judge Douglas Yau Tak-hong ruled on Tuesday that the defendant had a prima facie case to answer.
So, 59, did not testify at the hearing. But his barrister Daniel Marash SC argued that his client honestly thought he had “reasonable excuses” for giving the instructions.
So had cooperated closely with the authorities in internal probes but had in the end become a “sacrificial lamb”, his lawyer said.
The court earlier heard that ship inspectors needed to provide more information about the conditions of checked vessels after the new ship safety law in question had been introduced in 2007.
Life-saving appliances and navigation equipment on a ship would be inspected, but senior staff at the department would not regularly review inspection reports, according to inspectors who gave evidence at the hearing.
The department would not take the initiative to ask shipowners to make an application for an inspection, despite all vessels requiring annual checks, the court was told.
The judge adjourned the verdict in So’s misconduct trial until June 7.
