Police Were Asked To Get Hospital Footage: Family

The son of an elderly man who has accused police of assaulting him while he was in custody in North District Hospital, said on Wednesday that the police were specifically asked to check the security camera footage of the June 26 incident when the family lodged a complaint days later.

This contradicts the police version of events. Officers had said at a police briefing on Tuesday that they did not know the hospital had CCTV cameras.

The footage, which was played to media by the family on Tuesday, appeared to show officers beating and slapping a man strapped on to a hospital bed.

The alleged abuse victim's son, surnamed Chung, said he had specifically told officers to get the CCTV footage from the hospital when he filed the complaint at the end of June. But he claimed officers didn't put the request down in writing.

He said it gave him a feeling that officers didn't want to deal with the complaint.

Chung added that his father – who had originally been arrested for allegedly assaulting police while he was drunk – had reported back to the police twice over the past two months, but officers made no inquiries about his complaint.

Officers at Tuesday’s briefing had said the complaints unit had made four unsuccessful attempts to reach the family, and that was why they couldn’t proceed with the case or take a statement from the alleged victim.

Chung was speaking to the media outside the police headquarters on Wednesday where he, along with his 62-year-old father, had gone to give a formal statement to the police.

The father didn't speak to reporters. He had come to give his statement on the hospital events at police request.

Three officers have been arrested in connection with the case.

Democratic Party legislator Lam Cheuk-ting, who is assisting the victim, said he thinks police didn't handle the case properly.

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