Hong Kong protests: man fined for slapping passer-by in row over removal of messages on Lennon Wall
- He was scolding two men for clearing wall popular with anti-government protesters and supporters, when victim walked by and quarrelled with him
- In separate wall incident elsewhere, waiter, 19, admits to attacking two men who were watching him remove stickers
A Hong Kong engineer who slapped a passer-by in a dispute over the removal of anti-government messages on a “Lennon Wall” last August was fined HK$1,000 (US$129) on Monday.
Tuen Mun Court heard Liu Tsz-ho, 25, was scolding two men for clearing a Lennon Wall near Affluence Garden in Tuen Mun at about 9am on August 28 last year when the victim, surnamed Leung, passed by and quarrelled with him.
Prosecutors said Liu then took out his camera to film Leung in proximity, and slapped his face once.
Liu pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of common assault and admitted that he had overreacted in a moment of foolishness.
He also said he felt remorseful and promised to never repeat his offence.
Acting principal magistrate Cheung Kit-yee issued a fine after accepting that Liu had acted out of impulse and observing that his victim had only sustained minor injuries.
Also on Monday, 19-year-old waiter Cheng Tung-sin admitted that he attacked two men who were watching him remove stickers on another Lennon Wall along King’s Road, near Exit B of North Point MTR station, on July 22 last year.
Eastern Court heard one of the pair of onlookers began filming Cheng, and he reacted by running up to the older of the duo, a 57-year-old man who was closer to him, putting his arms around his victim and causing the man to fall to the ground.
Cheng continued the attack, and crawled onto the man, hitting the latter’s upper body with his bare hands. The younger man then put down his phone to subdue Cheng.
Upon arrest, Cheng told police he pushed the 57-year-old because he wanted to leave the scene.
Both his victims were sent to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital in Chai Wan for treatment.
While the younger man had abrasions on his left hand and redness on his left forearm, the older one sustained a fracture and dislocation of his left hip.
Cheng pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and said he had committed the offence because he felt emotional following the mob attack at Yuen Long MTR station the night before, which left at least 45 people injured.
But Magistrate Arthur Lam Hei-wei noted that regardless of what had happened in Yuen Long on July 21, it was the defendant who initiated the attack in the present case, and the court could not condone violence.
The magistrate will sentence Cheng on May 11, pending reports on the suitability of placing him in a detention centre, training centre or rehabilitation centre, but he would not rule out imprisonment.
Common assault is punishable by one year in jail while assault occasioning actual bodily harm carries a maximum sentence of three years behind bars.