THE QUEEN v. YUEN PO WA

HCMA001080/1986

IN THE SUPREME COURT MAGISTRACY APPEAL

1986 No.1080 (Criminal)

BETWEEN:

THE QUEEN   AND   YUEN PO-WA

Coram: Roberts, C.J.

Date of judgment: 13th November, 1986.

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JUDGMENT

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1. This is an appeal against his conviction for assault occasioning actual bodily harm by YUEN Po-wa, who was found guilty by a magistrate, after a plea of Not Guilty, on 16th October, 1986.

2. The victim of the assault was a man called LAM Kwai-keung ("P.W.1"), who was a foki at a congee shop in Mei King Street. He said that a lorry stopped outside the premises and, in doing so, knocked against the frame of an awning which had been put up outside the shop. P.W.1 went out and an argument took place between him and the defendant about the damage caused to the awning.

3. According to P.W.1, in the course of the argument, the defendant punched him in the region of his upper lip, causing part of one of his front teeth to be broken and bleeding from the mouth and gums and nose. P.W.1 said this knocked him to the ground and that he shouted for help and was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where he was given dental treatment which cost him $500.

4. The appellant admitted that the lorry did come into contact with the awning and that an argument did develop between himself and a fat lady. He said that a number of people came out of the shop and threatened him; that one of them punched him, and that the punch grazed his forehead. He had not hit P.W.1 himself at all.

5. This was essentially a matter of fact for the magistrate to decide, on the basis of his assessment of the credibility of the witnesses. He believed the evidence of P.W.1, and rejected that of the defendant.

6. I can find no grounds on which I could interfere with that finding by the magistrate, nor is there anything in the record to suggest that he misdirected himself either on the law to be applied or the facts on which he based his finding.

7. I, therefore, must dismiss the appeal against conviction.

Representation:

Appellant in person.

Mr. F. Whitehouse, Senior Crown Counsel, for Crown.