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.
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.
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.
“Going back to the [surveillance] footage, we can see your right hand had a movement resembling a chokehold. Explain to the court why you had this move,” coroner’s officer Derek Wong Chun-hin said.
The constable replied that Chan’s action had already constituted “defensive resistance” under internal police guidelines, which would warrant more serious physical control methods such as hitting with a baton.
Lam said his right forearm touched Chan’s neck as the taxi driver continued to struggle vigorously when his right arm was wrapped around his shoulders in a bid to lift him into the police vehicle.
Lam said he had first attempted to lift Chan up by holding the driver’s left upper arm, but he was twisting his body, rendering the attempt at control a failure.
The policeman said he then put his right arm around Chan’s shoulders “like hugging him”, stuck his right leg close to the left side of Chan’s back and continued to exert force on the driver’s left upper arm in a bid to control him.
“When my left hand exerted force to lift him into the vehicle, because of his twisting and struggling, as a result I touched his neck,” Lam said.
The constable blamed Chan’s struggling for his forearm touching the taxi driver’s neck, telling the court that he had immediately loosened his right arm on Chan’s neck and asked the driver if he was fine.
Lam recalled that Chan had told him he was fine and did not show any injuries to his neck or lower jaw.
“He also told me: ‘I’m OK. I just won’t board the police vehicle,’” Lam said.
Wong then examined surveillance camera footage after Chan was lifted into the police vehicle, asking Lam if the driver had slid onto the floor inside the police vehicle from a seat.
The constable said he could not recall whether Chan had slid down from the seat, but it was possible as he was continuously twisting his body in an attempt to leave the vehicle.
Surveillance camera footage then showed Chan standing outside the vehicle, with the taxi driver swaying.
Wong asked Lam why Chan would be swaying, with the constable pointing to the driver’s agitated state.
“I think this movement from him is like a child throwing a tantrum on the ground, saying he won’t board the vehicle,” Lam said.
Surveillance footage then played in court showed that around 30 minutes later, Chan was transferred to an ambulance via a stretcher from a police vehicle.
The inquest continues on Thursday with senior counsel Neville Sarony, who represents Chan’s family, questioning Lam. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
