Decorator found guilty of firing ball bearings at flats using air pressure gun

[ULike2CarryModBalls]

Decorator found guilty of firing ball bearings at flats using air pressure gun

Choy Sim-kit, 48, may have been motivated by a dispute over payment for a decorating job

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 14 August, 2014, 6:45pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 14 August, 2014, 7:20pm

Chris [email protected]

Calls to tighten restrictions on air guns have grown after this case and another earlier this month when an elderly man was shot in the chest, prompting police to scour a nearby housing estate. Photo: SCMP Pictures

A decorator has been found guilty of spraying five flats with ball bearings shot from an air pressure gun, damaging windows and hitting a passer-by.

Choy Sim-kit, 48, was convicted at District Court of all six charges relating to criminal damage, common assault and possession of a firearm without a licence.

Handing down the verdict, Judge Anthony Kwok Kai-on said Choy had both motive and ability to commit the offence, as the experienced decorator had sufficient knowledge of the tools he allegedly used to assemble the weapon.

Kwok noted that a resident of one the flats targeted may have owed Choy HK$30,000 for a decorating job.

It was alleged that on March 30 and 31, Choy used an air pressure gun assembled from decorating equipment to open fire at five flats at Pearl House and Chun Chu House in Yuen Long.

Police were called to the scene after windows were damaged and a passer-by was hit.

Officers found Choy in a van parked in a car park opposite the two targeted buildings. More than 300 ball bearings were found in the vicinity, along with a pair of binoculars, the court heard.

Prosecutor George Chu Fung-chee told the court that the area Choy was arrested in was within range of the makeshift gun.

Kwok said Choy’s explanation for being found in the van was “illogical”.

The decorator will be sentenced on August 29.

The case has sparked debate on whether the city should place stricter restrictions on air guns, particularly after an elderly man sustained a serious injury when he was struck by a pellet fired from a powerful air gun last week.

On August 6, the 83-year-old man was shot in the chest as he crossed the street in Ho Man Tin. He underwent surgery to remove a lead pellet and was in a serious condition.

Police later confiscated six air rifles and three air pistols from the house of a 40-year-old security guard.

Under Hong Kong law, an air gun that produces more than two joules of energy is considered a firearm.