Man who assaulted FDH loses appeal against conviction & sentence

 

Residential estate n Tin Hau (Google Maps photo)

A man who appealed to the High Court to reverse his conviction and sentence of probation for assault  occasioning actual bodily harm inflicted on a foreign domestic helper, almost ended up in jail instead, in a decision that came out last Christmas eve.

“... after viewing all the CCTV footages, I find the attack violent, and having taken twice, I have in mind at one stage whether the probation order should be changed to some form of imprisonment term…,” said Deputy High Court Judge Frankie Yiu in a decision dated Aug. 27 but published by the High Court last Dec. 24. “But after considering all the matters, I do not intend to reverse the finding.”

Judge Frankie Yiu sustained the Eastern Court’s decision to convict A. F. Guerrero and sentence him to probation for 12 months.

DETAILS HERE

The case began when Guerrero, who was walking his dog, scolded the DH for letting her employer’s son ride a bicycle in the platform that connected the five towers of Pavilia Hill, a luxury residential estate in Tin Hau.

The dispute resulted in Guerrero being tried at Eastern Court, which found him to have snatched the DH’s phone while she was filming him and threw it away, pushed her to the ground and hit her twice with his bag. The DH sustained scratches to her knees and pain in her hips as a result.

Guerrero stopped only after a security guard who testified for the prosecution intervened and separated the two.

Through his lawyer, Guerrero questioned these findings, claiming it was the DH who pushed him and punched his chest after he brushed away her phone, that she rushed to strangle his dog, causing her to fall, and that he did not attack her at any time.

Basahin ang detalye!

He asserted that the magistrate who ruled against him erred in rejecting his evidence and evaluating the defense case, erred in considering whether all the elements of the crime have been proved and made unsafe inferences on the available evidence, such as the CCTV footage.

Judge Yiu rejected all these assertions, saying “the Magistrate did not convict the Appellant simply because his evidence was rejected, but simply finding sufficient evidence from the prosecution's case to convict the Appellant.“

He noted that the CCTV footage contradicts Guerrero’s  assertions.

Judge Yiu added: “When rejecting the claim of self-defense, the Magistrate correctly held that ‘he has no genuine subjective belief that there was a need of self-defense’.” 

The judge also rejected the appellant's argument that his sentence was manifestly excessive, citing several cases that resulted in a fine or a discharge order. Guerrero's lawyer told the court his client had already lost his high-paying job in a financial institution because of the case.

"Obviously, in this case, the probation order, as I said, after trial is really too lenient to the Appellant and clearly not manifestly excessive, particularly after trial of the case. So the appeal against sentence is also dismissed accordingly," said the judge.