Former Hong Kong prison guard jailed for 3 years over attack on inmate

A former Hong Kong corrections officer who wounded an inmate by repeatedly thrusting a stick into his rectum has been jailed for three years.

Tam Lik-chung, a former Correctional Services Department assistant officer, was handed the jail term after District Court Judge Frankie Yiu ruled the former prison guard had ordered other inmates to take part in the December 2023 attack.

Tam was also charged with perverting the course of justice for telling the inmate to lie about his injury by saying he had scratched himself with a pen after finding blood in his faeces.

The officer pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm and the perversion of justice charge in April, admitting to assaulting the inmate with a stick at Pik Uk Prison in December 2023.

Two inmates who helped him carry out the assault, Bosco Lee and Brian Lam, denied the wounding charges and were found guilty last month. Another inmate, Ho Lik-wun, pleaded guilty to the wounding charge, while another inmate was found not guilty.

A second prison guard was acquitted of misconduct in public office.

Abuse of authority

Judge Yiu said that Tam had “severely” wounded the inmate, adding that it was fortunate the victim had made a full recovery. Tam’s judgement was “clouded by power,” Yiu said, adding that the assault amounted to an abuse of authority.

Considering factors including Tam’s guilty plea and the loss of his job, Yiu sentenced the former prison guard to three years in prison.

The judge also considered the mitigation pleas of the other three defendants. Lawyers for Lam and Ho said Tam was the instigator and their clients had not dared to defy his authority, while the lawyer representing Lee, who is serving a 14-year drug trafficking sentence, appealed for leniency

Ho was sentenced to four months in prison, while Lee and Lam were jailed for six months.

Lam, who was the victim’s cellmate, was found guilty of taking the stick and handing it to Tam. But Lam took care of him after he was injured and rang the emergency alarm when the victim’s condition worsened. The victim had earlier said in court that he forgave Lam.

According to case details read out in court, the two prison guards and some inmates were playing bingo in an activity room at Pik Uk when the victim threw baby powder on Tam from behind. After the game, Tam told the victim to go to the staircase and demanded he remove his trousers.

The prison guard then rammed a wooden stick into the victim’s rectum multiple times through his underwear. The victim was sent to hospital for surgery and temporarily required a stoma bag. The victim revealed the cause of his injuries to his family two weeks after the attack.