A taxi driver who was filmed forcing two passengers, one of them using a walker, out of his vehicle with a metal bar has pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal intimidation and refusing to accept hire of a taxi.
Thomas Lam Chun-leong, 55, was arrested in September after video of him hurling abuse at a man and a woman, 38 and 37, in Yan Lok Square in Yuen Long went viral.
In court yesterday, Lam claimed he was a “kind-hearted person.” The one-minute video suggests, however, that he is not.
In it, Lam can be seen swinging a metal bar shouting: “Are you playing tricks with me? Get out! Do you believe I will strike your head?”
He then slams the trunk and the car door and continues shouting at the pair as they walk off.
According to Apple Daily, Tuen Mun Magistrates’ Court yesterday heard that the incident took place at 9pm on Aug. 30, when the couple asked Lam to take them to Greenfields, a housing estate that is about 10-15 minutes away from Yan Lok Square by foot.
However, Lam refused to take them there because he did not know the way, and still refused to take them to their destination when the couple offered to direct him there. The couple then warned they would call the police, at which point the taxi driver got mad and threatened the couple.
In Hong Kong, there are three types of taxis distinguished easily by their colours: green taxis cover the New Territories, blue taxis cover Lantau Island, and red taxis – also known as urban taxis – cover most parts of Hong Kong apart from really remote areas.
The magistrate said Lam, who has been a taxi driver for six years, should know by now that red taxis can go anywhere, and that there was no way he could not have seen the female passenger was using a walker.
Lam, who represented himself in court, insisted he did not see the walker, saying “I am a kind-hearted person.”
To which the magistrate responded: “You can still say that? Other drivers would be more compassionate, stop quibbling.”
Lam then goes on to say he did not want to physically harm the couple, and said the shouting was because the 38-year-old male victim had been following him since 1977 because of an incident. The magistrate responded: “He was not born in 1977.”
Lam will be back in court for sentencing on Dec. 5.
According to the SCMP, it is common for red taxis to refuse rides to non-urban areas, because many drivers believe they will earn less money than in busier areas. After the video went viral, Lam’s actions were strongly condemned by the Hong Kong Taxi Council, which called for a tough punishment.
Lam’s guilty plea joins a list of bad behavior by taxi drivers in a city notorious for taxi drivers overcharging or refusing to take passengers.
According to the recent quarterly report from the Transport Complaints Unit, there were 2,710 complaints regarding taxi services filed in the second quarter of this year, up 12.4 percent from the previous quarter, and a 4.6 percent increase from the same quarter a year ago.
Of the complaints received, 615 were for taxi drivers refusing fares (see our own Coconuts Hong Kong video below), 537 were for bad manners or behavior, and 478 were for overcharging.
According to the Road Traffic Ordinance, taxi drivers can be handed a HK$10,000 fine and up to six months in prison for such violations. Under the Crimes Ordinance, criminal intimidation can carry a fine of HK$2,000 and two years in prison, and five years in prison for more serious cases.
Reader Interactions