Gov’t seeks heavier sentences for 4 people – including prison guard – convicted of wounding inmate

Skip to content Government prosecutors have lodged an appeal for heavier sentences for four people involved in an attack on a prisoner, including a guard who wounded the inmate by thrusting a stick into his rectum. Pik Uk Correctional Institution. File photo: Wikimedia Commons. Local media reported on Wednesday that the Department of Justice had filed an appeal against the sentences relating to a December 2023 assault at Pik Uk Correctional Institution. In August, four defendants were jailed for wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm. Tam Lik-chung, a former Correctional Services Department assistant officer, received the longest sentence of three years, with District Court Judge Frankie Yiu ruling that he had ordered other inmates to take part in the attack. Tam had pleaded guilty to the charge, along with inmate Ho Lik-wun, who was jailed for four months. Two inmates, Bosco Lee and Brian Lam, pleaded not guilty to the same wounding charge and were convicted after trial. They were jailed for six months each. A Correctional Services Department vehicle. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. A second prison officer, Kwok Siu-fai, was acquitted of misconduct in public office. An inmate, Li Yuxuan, was also acquitted of the wounding charge. According to case details read out in court, the two prison officers, Tam and Kwok, were playing bingo in an activity room when an 18-year-old inmate threw baby powder on Tam from behind. After the game, Tam told the victim to go to the staircase and demanded he remove his trousers. The prison officer then rammed a wooden stick into the victim’s rectum multiple times through his underwear. The victim was sent to hospital for surgery and temporarily required a stoma bag. The victim revealed the cause of his injuries to his family two weeks after the attack. Safeguard press freedom; keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team Support HKFP | Policies & Ethics | Error/typo? | Contact | Newsletter | Transparency & Annual Report | Apps Make a one-off donation. Hillary Leung is a journalist at Hong Kong Free Press, where she reports on local politics and social issues, and assists with editing. Since joining in late 2021, she has covered the Covid-19 pandemic, political court cases including the 47 democrats national security trial, and challenges faced by minority communities. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Hillary completed her undergraduate degree in journalism and sociology at the University of Hong Kong. She worked at TIME Magazine in 2019, where she wrote about Asia and overnight US news before turning her focus to the protests that began that summer. At Coconuts Hong Kong, she covered general news and wrote features, including about a Black Lives Matter march that drew controversy amid the local pro-democracy movement and two sisters who were born to a domestic worker and lived undocumented for 30 years in Hong Kong. More by Hillary Leung