Hong Kong law clerk acquitted of wounding man who bit district councillor’s ear in 2019
- Judge finds Eric Ko used proportionate force when subduing drunken man who bit politician’s ear during 2019 social unrest
Deputy District Judge Ko Wai-hung cleared Eric Ko Fung on Wednesday, saying he believed the 63-year-old was trying to stop former businessman Joe Chen’s rampage outside Cityplaza shopping centre in Quarry Bay on November 3, 2019.
Chen bit off part of the left ear of Andrew Chiu Ka-yin, who was then an Eastern district councillor, and attacked three other people before he was caught and beaten up by a crowd of people. He was sentenced to 14 years in jail.
The judge also found the clerk not guilty of a separate charge of rioting.
“Considering the situation, especially the violence Chen had inflicted on others, I am of the view that the violence Ko had used on Chen was not unreasonable and disproportionate,” the judge wrote in his verdict.
Eric Ko, a resident in the Taikoo Shing neighbourhood and a law clerk for three decades, said he was only passing by Cityplaza on his way home.
He said he stopped when he saw Chen caught up in a chaotic fight and dragging a man on the ground.
The clerk’s wife testified that the pair did not have political views and had no intention to join an assembly taking place that day in Cityplaza. She said they had attended a funeral in the afternoon.
Eric Ko was accused of kicking Chen on the back, before pressing his knees into the attacker and bending the man’s legs.
The defendant said he did so only because he believed Chen was trying to escalate the fight and attack others.
The judge said: “From an objective point of view, as seen in what happened at that time, it is plausible that [Eric Ko] bent Joe Chen’s legs because he wanted to stop Chen from assaulting others.”
The clerk had to make a split-second decision on how to control the attacker, and he found his actions to be “reasonable”, the judge added.
The court heard Eric Ko had briefly stayed at the shopping centre and gave his identity card to police upon inquiry. The judge said he would not have done so if he intended to incite others to riot.
Also standing trial was Chung Chi-wang, an unemployed man in his thirties, who was found guilty of wounding with intent and rioting.
Footage submitted to court showed a man – identified only by his green shirt, black glasses and black rucksack – beating Chen, whose head was bleeding, with an umbrella.
Judge Ko said he had carefully examined the evidence and concluded that Chung was the man seen in the video.
Other footage also suggested Chung had stayed at the shopping centre for more than 30 minutes, which the judge found unreasonable as he was not a resident in the area.
He concluded that the only reason Chung stayed was to partake in the riot.
Sentencing is set for July 20.
