News
Suspect due in court on acid-attack charge
The following article was written by Colleen Lee and published in ‘The Standard’, Hong Kong, October 31, 2011
The 29-year-old suspect, who was not named by the police, faces one count of conspiring with others to throw a corrosive fluid at Neil Mitchell with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Police said the man fled to the mainland after allegedly attacking Mitchell when he left the court building on Harbour Road in Wan Chai on October 27, 2009. Hong Kong’s Organized Crime and Triad Bureau took over the investigation and the mainland’s Public Security Bureau was asked to help find the suspect. He was intercepted by Shenzhen police in early October this year and handed over to the Hong Kong force at Huanggang Border Control Point last Friday.
Six other people, aged 19 to 44, were jailed between 10 and 12 years in April this year for their roles in the attack after pleading guilty in the Court of First Instance to a charge of conspiracy to throw a corrosive fluid with intent.
When handing down the sentences, judge Clare-Marie Beeson described the Wan Chai attack as vicious, cold-blooded and calculated.
On October 27, 2009, Mitchell was walking down the stairs outside the court to cross Harbour Road during a lunch break in a criminal case when a man holding a paper cup threw fluid in his face. As Mitchell tried to wipe it off, another man ran past and threw more liquid, which landed on his clothing. He suffered chemical injuries to his left eye, ear and cheek and was discharged from hospital three days later. His injuries had fully stabilized by January last year with his vision intact.
Although the suspect was handed over to the Hong Kong police on Friday, they waited until yesterday to announce the news.
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Posted on November 04th 2011 by Office in ASTI news
