Kowloon City Water Splashing Festival | 3 men convicted of six charges over spraying police officers and reporters with water; judge says conduct exceeded acceptable standards
九龍城潑水節｜3男被指向警員記者射水6罪罪成 官：行為超越可接受標準
At the Kowloon City Water Splashing Festival on April 9, 2023, three men, including Tsang Wai-sing, known as “Brave Dog”, were accused of assaulting three auxiliary police officers and three TVB News reporters. They denied six charges of assaulting police officers and common assault, but were convicted on all charges at Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts on Wednesday (16th). The three defendants were remanded in custody until November 1 for sentencing. Magistrate Brian Chi Fai Chan said the defendants must have known the identities of the police officers and reporters. In particular, the three auxiliary police officers were wearing uniforms and were present to maintain order. Even though two male officers were wearing wreaths and had powder painted on their faces, they were merely standing outside a shop and were not holding water guns or containers for playing, making it clear that they were not participants. The magistrate stressed that the court had not ignored the fact that the incident occurred during the Water Splashing Festival, where splashing water carries a blessing. However, the defendants sprayed water from close range and clearly intentionally targeted the complainants’ eyes, ears, faces and other areas. Their conduct necessarily exceeded the generally acceptable standards of the festival. Descriptions such as “rough play” and “just fooling around” did not apply, and the court found that the defendants had intentionally used force against the complainants.
2023 年 4 月 9 日九龍城潑水節，被稱為「勇狗」的曾維誠等 3 名男子，涉襲擊 3 名輔警及 3 名《無綫新聞》記者，他們否認 6 項襲警和普通襲擊罪，周三（16日）在九龍城裁判法院被裁定全部罪名成立，3 名被告還押至 11 月 1 日判刑。 裁判官陳志輝指，被告必然知悉警員及記者的身分，尤其 3 名輔警身穿軍裝，當日在場維持秩序。即使兩名男警戴上花圈、臉塗上粉末，他們僅站在商舖門外，手上沒有持水槍或器皿玩樂，明顯不是參加者。 官強調，沒忽視本案在潑水節發生，而潑水有祝福的意思，但被告近距離、明顯有意圖向各事主的眼、耳、面部等位置射水，行為必然超越潑水節一般可接受的標準，「粗野嬉戲」、「玩吓」等形容並不適用，裁定被告蓄意向事主施加武力。