HONG KONG — A form six pupil in Hong Kong has been charged with causing grievous bodily harm to a police sergeant during anti-government protests on Sunday (Oct 13).

Hui Tim-lik, 18, who faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for the charge, remained in Tseung Kwan O Hospital for observation upon the recommendation of doctors on Tuesday (Oct 15) and was absent from the hearing at Eastern Magistracy.

Senior public prosecutor Vincent Lee Ting-wai told the press the prosecution would apply for a gag order to ensure the injured officer’s anonymity, citing safety concerns.

Principal Magistrate Bina Chainrai adjourned the case to Oct 18 or an earlier date upon Hui’s hospital discharge.

He will be remanded in police custody after Ms Chainrai dismissed the request of Hui’s lawyer Catherine Wong Kam-kuen to hear the student’s bail application in his absence.

His school, De La Salle Secondary School N T in Sheung Shui, is coping with the crisis, and it told the Post on Tuesday morning that it would not expel the 18-year-old.

Hui was suspected to have injured the sergeant with a box cutter during a protest in Kwun Tong on Sunday, leaving him with a 3cm wound to his neck.

The officer had been dispatched to Kwun Tong MTR station after reports of criminal damage by a group of men wearing black.

By the time the sergeant had arrived the group had left the scene, but a black-clad man sprang from the crowd and assaulted him with the blade, injuring his jugular vein and nerve, police alleged.

The sergeant is in a stable condition at United Christian Hospital in Kwun Tong.

On Monday (Oct 14), Deputy Commissioner of Police Chris Tang Ping-keung said at the force’s press conference that a person had been arrested for attempted murder, adding that the attack at close range showed “intent to take his life”.

De La Salle’s vice-principal Poon Man-yiu told the Post on Tuesday that the arrested person attended the school, but said he would not be expelled.

“It is a serious case, and our teachers and students are all very upset and concerned on learning of his arrest,” he said.

“But I believe the school’s priority right now is to offer help and support to him and his family, and to remind students to stay away from dangerous public events at this tense time in our society.”

Poon said school staff had visited the student at Tseung Kwan O Police Station on Sunday night after the arrest, where the pupil was still detained.

The school also briefed students about the incident at assembly on Monday, Poon said, adding that counselling was offered to distressed students. The school said it was not aware of any other students being arrested for protest-related offences since June.

Founded in 1965, the Catholic school sits in the northern border town of Sheung Shui in the New Territories and is government-aided.

Hong Kong has been gripped by more than four months of street protests sparked by opposition to the now-scrapped extradition bill.

Demonstrations have since morphed into a wider anti-government movement, focusing on alleged police brutality and lack of democracy.

Earlier this month, two young protesters were shot by police in separate incidents and arrested, but their secondary schools made clear they would not be expelled, despite pressure for heavier punishments from Xinhua and former city leader Leung Chun-ying.

Separately, Eastern Court also heard the case of a 13-year-old boy who allegedly assaulted a plain-clothes police officer during a protest in Tseung Kwan O on Sunday.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was charged with one count each of taking part in an unlawful assembly, using a facial covering while at an unlawful assembly, false imprisonment and causing grievous bodily harm with intent. He remained in hospital on Tuesday, and was absent from court.

He allegedly wounded a police officer, whose name was withheld by the prosecution, and detained him against his wish at the junction of Tong Chun Street and Tong Tak Street.

Magistrate Pang Leung-ting adjourned the case to October 18 or an earlier date, pending the boy’s discharge from Tseung Kwan O Hospital.

He refused a request by defence lawyers to hear the boy’s bail application in his absence, and ordered him to remain in police custody before his next hearing.

On Monday, police announced off-duty officers would from Tuesday be given pepper spray to “execute constabulary duties” amid increasingly violent clashes with anti-government protesters. The crowd-control agent has been commonly used for public order policing in Hong Kong.

An internal memo said only officers trained in the use of OC Foam would be eligible to carry it during off-duty hours, and its use would be governed by the force’s guidelines.

Speaking on a radio programme on Tuesday, Mr Edwin Cheng Shing-lung, a former member of the police watchdog Independent Police Complaints Council, called on the force to clarify guidelines.

Mr Cheng said: “Do the off-duty cops need to reveal their identity and show their warrant card before hitting people with pepper spray?

“And who should they report to if they have used the device in another district rather than where they are based?

“I am also concerned about the psychological condition of the officers if they still have to carry pepper spray after work. Will they think they are still at work and will this put additional pressure on himself and people around him?” SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST