Hong Kong police officer accused of beating street sleeper did not want to watch footage of incident, court hears
Hong Kong Free Press
A police officer accused of beating a homeless man in a drug sweep three years ago said under police caution that he did not want to watch surveillance footage of the incident, according to a videotaped police interview played in court on Tuesday.
The officer, Kwok Chin-sing, was accused of inflicting grievous bodily harm on street sleeper Nguyen Van Son at a pavilion during the February 4, 2020 operation at Tung Chau Street Park in Sham Shui Po. He also stands accused of two counts of criminal damage over allegedly destroying street sleepers’ belongings.
Kwok was one of eight police officers who pleaded not guilty to charges including inflicting grievous bodily harm, perverting the course of justice, criminal damage, and misconduct in public office.
Kwok and the other seven officers – Hon Ting-kwong, Leung Fei-pang, Pong Chun-sze, Lam Wah-ka, Mok Chi-shing, Wan Pak-Sze and Chan Sau-yip – appeared before District Judge Kathie Cheung at the District Court on Tuesday afternoon.
Senior Public Prosecutor Kelvin Tang on Tuesday played a video recording of a police interview with Kwok dated May 8, 2020, in which he was asked if he was involved in a drug sweep at the park linked to the charges against the officers.
Kwok, in the police interview, said that more than one person was arrested in the operation that evening, but nothing had happened otherwise. Asked if he participated in the drug sweep, he said: “I don’t want to reply at the moment.”
The police officer interviewing Kwok then played two clips of surveillance footage obtained from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. About a minute into each clip, he told the officer: “Sir, I don’t want to watch any further.”
Asked why he did not want to watch the footage, he said there was no point in watching any further since he did not recognise the people in the video as their faces were “covered.” He said he did not know what the people in the video were doing, and when asked if he was one of those people, he said: “I don’t recognise myself.”
The officer conducting the interview then listed the police identification numbers of Kwok’s co-defendants, asking if Kwok recognised them in the video. Kwok said he did not.
Fractured rib
A doctor who treated one of the street sleepers allegedly beaten by the police officers was called to the stand on Tuesday.
Questioned by the prosecution, Gordon Lee, a doctor at Caritas Medical Centre in Sham Shui Po, said that he treated Nguyen – who arrived at the hospital accompanied by police officers – after the drug sweep.
Lee referred to a medical report he wrote up that night. In it, he had noted that Nguyen was experiencing pain on the lower right side of his torso and that his 10th rib had been fractured, but had no external wounds, bruising, or swelling.
Nguyen also told Lee that he had been injured by police officers, who had punched and kicked him, the doctor said. Lee, however, said he had not included that detail in the medical report as he had not been able to verify Nguyen’s claim himself.
He added that doctors were not required to include how a patient sustained injuries in medical reports, and that leaving out Nguyen’s claim was a personal choice.
The court also heard statements from Lam Wai-kwok, a senior forensic pathologist at the city’s police force speaking as an expert witness.
Kwok’s lawyer asked whether it was uncommon that a blunt force strong enough to cause a bone fracture could have resulted in no swelling or bruising.
Lam said such an injury was indeed uncommon, but also added that blunt force trauma could have broken a rib without causing any swelling or bruising if the impact was over a larger surface or if there was padding to spread out the blow.
He also said that there were no signs that the broken rib was in the process of healing, but that he was not able to comment on the probable cause of the fracture.
Lam added that his evaluation was based on the findings and reports presented to him, and could not make any further comments beyond that.
Le Van Muoi, one of the street sleepers living at the Tung Chau Street Park in February 2020, was arrested for possessing dangerous drugs and charged on March 10, 2020.
The 54-year-old street sleeper from Vietnam died whilst in the custody of the Correctional Services Department (CSD) on October 8 that year. His death was ruled a suicide by the coroner’s court last November.
Last week, the prosecution told the court that surveillance camera footage showed the officers pulling an empty-handed Le from his tent, contrary to police constable Lam’s claim that Le was holding a box containing drugs.
Several officers had attempted to block a surveillance camera by covering it with a bag, climbing the pillar, and throwing wet tissues at the lens, local media outlets reported last week.
The prosecution also said that Kwok, Leung and Chan could be seen in surveillance footage punching and kicking Nguyen. Last week, Nguyen said that one of the officers took out a 40-centimetre long knife and threw it on the ground during the drug sweep, while two other officers held down the street sleeper’s hand to force him to hold it.
He was almost beaten unconscious, local media reported.
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