Verdict next month on Hong Kong official accused of failing to implement law on life jackets
Lawyer says assistant director of Marine Department is a ‘sacrificial lamb’ in case arising from Lamma ferry disaster that left 39 dead
A senior Marine Department official accused of failing to ensure there were enough life jackets on vessels inspected by his team will hear the verdict in his misconduct case next month.
So Ping-chi, an assistant director at the department, denies one count of misconduct in public office for allegedly instructing his subordinates not to enforce a provision on children’s life jackets when he was a principal surveyor of ships from April 2007 to March 2013. He is also accused of failing to rescind that instruction.
The trial followed from the Lamma ferry collision of 2012 that cost 39 lives.
District Court judge Douglas Yau Tak-hong ruled on Tuesday that the defendant had a prima facie case to answer.
So, 59, did not testify at the hearing. But his barrister Daniel Marash SC argued that his client honestly thought he had “reasonable excuses” for giving the instructions.
