Mainland Chinese tour guide jailed for assault on tourist, who later died
Argument arose from customers not buying anything at the shop
PUBLISHED : Friday, 05 February, 2016, 7:52pm
UPDATED : Friday, 05 February, 2016, 9:39pm
Chris Lau
[email protected]
Liu Yang (pictured) pushed and kicked the tourist outside D2 Jewellery Shop. Photo: SCMP Pictures
A tour escort who assaulted a mainland tourist with bouncer-like behaviour in a dispute moments before the tourist collapsed at a Hong Kong jewellery shop last year was sentenced to three months in jail on Friday. Miao Chunqi died in hospital less than 24 hours after the incident.
Liu Yang pushed and kicked Miao and grabbed his neck shortly before he collapsed outside D2 Jewellery Shop in Hung Hom on 19 October last year, the court heard earlier.
Miao, 54, suffered a heart attack and died following the row which arose from customers not buying anything at the shop.
Sentencing Liu, Kowloon City Principal Magistrate Peter Law Tak-chuen said: “This defendant’s act in the attack cannot be described as minimal, but rather violent.”
Liu’s lawyer Oliver Davies suggested in mitigation that his client was merely trying to protect others in the argument.
But Law, after viewing the footage of event be played in court, rejected that and said: “[He] was more like a bouncer then a mediator.”
Liu, 32, admitted four counts of common assault on Wednesday, two of which were on Miao’s friend Zhang Lixia.
He pleaded guilty after prosecutors scaled down the charge against him from manslaughter due to a postmortem report which showed Miao died from a heart condition rather than from the assault.
He was granted bail after he indicted he would appeal the sentence.
On Friday the magistrate said the present case was serious in that it stemmed from customers’ reluctance to spend money in the shop.
The dispute unfolded, the court previously heard, after Zhang refused to buy anything, which led to her being assaulted by a female tour guide. Miao came to her rescue.
Law also slammed the defendant for “acting in concert” with others.
A Hong Kong tour escort, Ricky Woo Yin-nam, 44, pleaded not guilty to two counts of common assault.
Another tour guide allegedly involved in the case, Deng Haiyan, 32, didn’t turn up for her hearing and a warrant was issued for her arrest.
