Officers did not intend to arrest hawker, inquest told

Updated at 7.30pm: Hawker-control officers had not intended to arrest an elderly hawker who had jumped into a river and drowned in Tin Shui Wai last year, an inquest heard on Monday.

The inquest is investigating the death of Lo Kong-ching, 65, who drowned in a 50-metre-wide river in Tin Shui Wai on June 26 last year.

A Food and Environmental Hygiene Department officer, who participated in an inspection of unlicensed hawkers in the district that day, said he saw an unattended barrow with Chinese herbs on a pavement opposite Tin Yan Estate.

The officer said he then spotted Lo, swimming in a river near the pavement. He then called police after seeing Lo sinking in the water. He initially thought of jumping into the river to save the man but changed his mind after seeing the water was muddy and murky.

He called police after the man started to look weary, the officer told the inquest.

He said the operation was aimed at inspecting the area to prepare for future raids on illegal hawkers - but not arrests.

A witness to the incident told the inquest he saw Lo climb a railing and jump into the river. Some FEHD officers chased the elderly man and shouted at him with the word: 'Stop', the witness said.

Lo's son testified that a neighbour had told him that someone mocked his father after he jumped into the river, saying 'see how far you can swim'.

But he said he could not identify the neighbour.

Lo had once worked as a seaman and could swim, his son said.

The 65-year-old had sold Chinese herbs in Tin Yan Estate without a hawker's licence for some years. During this time, he had been fined and prosecuted, the son said.

The inquest continues on Tuesday.