Struggling Hong Kong taxi driver ‘accidentally' put into chokehold, inquest told
A Hong Kong police officer seen putting a taxi driver who later died into a chokehold has told an inquest that he came into contact with the man's neck 'accidentally' during a struggle.
Advertisement
Constable Lam Wai-wing was part of a police team handling a report made by taxi driver Chan Fai-wong on November 11, 2012, and his subsequent arrest for assault.
Lam told the Coroner's Court on Wednesday that his initial attempt to move Chan into a police vehicle was unsuccessful, with surveillance footage showing him locking the taxi driver by the neck.
The court is re-examining the death of Chan, 65, in December 2012, a month after his arrest. He died from complications from a cervical dislocation.
Chan, who was taking a Japanese couple from West Kowloon to Hong Kong Island on November 11, 2012, parked his taxi near the administration building of the Western Harbour Tunnel due to a dispute with the male passenger at the toll booth. Chan made a report to police.
Advertisement
Lam said he had physical contact with Chan out of a responsibility to control an arrested person, describing the driver as emotionally agitated, uncooperative and putting up 'defensive resistance' when officers tried to put him into a police car for further questioning at a police station.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
HKFP
6 hours ago
- HKFP
Lawbreakers to be ‘held accountable,' China says as US airs support for activist Joshua Wong after nat. security charge
China's foreign ministry office in Hong Kong has slammed the United States for voicing support for jailed activist Joshua Wong after he was charged under the national security law, accusing Washington of 'blatantly interfering' in the city's affairs. The Office of the Commissioner of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong on Wednesday expressed 'strong disapproval and firm opposition,' after Washington said it 'strongly condemns' a second national security charge levelled against Wong. Wong, who is serving a four years and eight months jail sentence over conspiring to subvert state power under a Beijing-imposed national security law, was hit with a foreign collusion charge last week. The 28-year-old activist – one of Hong Kong's most prominent pro-democracy figures – stands accused of conspiring with self-exiled activist Nathan Law to request foreign countries to impose sanctions or engage in hostile activities against Hong Kong or China. 'Hong Kong is a society governed by the rule of law, where lawbreakers must be held accountable,' a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry office in Hong Kong said in a statement, describing Wong as an 'anti-China element.' 'The Hong Kong police acted lawfully in handling anti-China forces, and the judiciary delivered fair rulings – this is entirely legitimate,' the spokesperson said. 'The US has repeatedly used 'human rights' and 'freedom' as pretexts to back its pawns, exposing its malicious intent,' the spokesperson added. 'Unjust sentence' Earlier this week, a spokesperson for the US State Department criticised the charge against Wong. He faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment if convicted. 'Wong is already serving an unjust sentence under vague national security charges simply for engaging in peaceful political activity,' the US spokesperson told US state-funded outlet the Voice of America (VOA) on Monday. The activist was among 45 convicted last year under the national security law in a case linked to primary elections in 2020. 'This tragic assault on Hong Kong's future – including the future of Joshua Wong and other activists languishing in custody or exiled for defending their fundamental freedoms – only proves Beijing never meant to keep its promises to maintain Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy and civil liberties,' the US spokesperson said. 'We call on Beijing and Hong Kong officials to stop using bogus national security laws to target Hong Kongers, release all political prisoners, and drop these outrageous charges against Joshua Wong,' the spokesperson added. 'Erroneous slanders' In a statement issued on Wednesday night, the Hong Kong government also strongly condemned 'some Western countries, anti-China organisations and anti-China politicians… for making erroneous slanders and smears.' 'As the legal proceedings of the case involving Joshua Wong Chi-fung are still ongoing, it is inappropriate for any person to comment on the details of the case,' a Hong Kong government spokesperson said. The city judiciary exercises its power independently and defendants are entitled to ac fair trial, the Hong Kong spokesperson said. 'We are appalled by irresponsible remarks of some countries, organisations or individuals that seemed to suggest that people with certain political beliefs should be immune to legal sanctions,' the spokesperson added. Int't NGOs condemn charge The Hong Kong government statement came after international NGOs criticised the new charge against Wong. 'This latest charge against him underscores the authorities' fear of prominent dissidents and shows the lengths they will go to keep them behind bars for as long as possible – in so doing, continuing a chilling effect on civic activism in the city,' Amnesty International's China Director Sarah Brooks said in a statement last week, after Wong was brought to court to face the new allegation. 'While imprisoned under one trumped-up charge, Joshua Wong has been suddenly slapped with yet another as the authorities appear intent on keeping one of Hong Kong's most influential democracy leaders behind bars. This decision is arbitrary, cruel, and outrageous,' Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch, said in a separate statement. Wong has already spent over 1,600 days in prison since being remanded in custody in November 2020 over an unauthorised assembly charge. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to subvert state power in the city's largest national security case and was sentenced to four years and eight months in jail last November. Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong's mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.
South China Morning Post
7 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Beijing national security authorities carry out operation with police in Hong Kong
Beijing's national security authorities in Hong Kong launched a joint operation with local counterparts on Thursday over a case of suspected collusion with foreign forces. The investigation is believed to be the first publicly known joint operation by Beijing's national security arm in the city and the local police force. According to authorities, six people and an organisation were suspected of having committed the offence of 'collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security' under the Beijing-decreed national security law between November 2020 and June 2024. The Office for Safeguarding National Security had requested assistance and support from the city's national security police, in arranging interviews with the people involved in the case, the government said on Thursday. National security police also raided the residences of six people and the organisation's office in a commercial building in Kwai Chung. Seized exhibits included bank documents and devices, it added. More to follow ...
South China Morning Post
10 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Customs works with University of Hong Kong to develop crypto transaction tracer
Hong Kong customs is working with the University of Hong Kong to develop a tool that can trace cryptocurrency transactions, as the department in recent years had recorded seven suspected money laundering cases involving more than HK$9 billion (US$1.1 billion) where virtual assets were used. Advertisement Mario Wong Ho-yin, assistant commissioner for intelligence and investigation of the Customs and Excise Department, said on Thursday that the organisation would ramp up collaborations with academics, finance and virtual asset industry players, and law enforcement across the region to combat cross-border money laundering. 'These money laundering threats are characterised by a transnational and borderless nature, and no single agency can tackle this problem alone,' he said. Wong also warned that illegal transactions and trades that used virtual assets, such as cryptocurrency, were on the rise. He revealed that among the 39 money laundering cases reported to the department between 2021 and May this year, seven involved the use of virtual assets to launder suspected crime proceeds. Advertisement Those seven cases involved more than HK$9 billion and were mostly trade-based money laundering cases, with the funds being transferred under the guise of normal trading activity. Last April, three people were arrested in connection with one of the cases, which involved more than 1,000 suspicious transactions worth HK$1.8 billion linked to five companies and 18 local bank accounts.
