Family blast police over handling of autistic man's arrest, detention
Family claim that after wrongly holding him for murder amid media glare, officers denied medication to intellectually disabled detainee
The family of an autistic man wrongly accused of murder and subjected to the full media glare as he was taken away by police have slammed the force over the handling of his arrest.
The 30-year-old man was arrested on May 2 in connection with the killing of an elderly man in Sha Tin last month. His family say they told the police he had mental-health problems and required medication. But they claim the police pressed ahead.
Yesterday the man's older brother, surnamed Au, said: "I told the police that my younger brother is autistic and intellectually disabled, and that he must take medication according to a doctor's instruction.
"The police did not arrange any medical staff to treat my brother. As a result, in the 50-hour-plus period he was detained from May 2 to 4, my brother did not take any medicine."
The younger brother was arrested on May 2 on suspicion of killing a 73-year-old man in a basketball court in Mei Lam Estate.
It was a highly publicised arrest. It was made after the old man died in hospital on April 13 after an alleged assault by a younger man.
Police laid a holding charge against the autistic man with one count of manslaughter last Monday, saying the case would be mentioned at Sha Tin Court a day later. But hours later, just past midnight, the holding charge was dropped.
