The man who bit off part of an ear of then-district councillor Andrew Chiu in 2019 had his sentence reduced by half a year on appeal. Joe Chen was ordered to serve 14.5 years behind bars in 2022, after being found guilty of three counts of wounding with intent and a count of common assault. He had used a knife to stab a couple and kicked another woman on the same day before he bit Chiu outside Cityplaza in Taikoo Shing, following a protest that took place in the shopping centre in November 2019. Handing down judgment on Wednesday, the Court of Appeal said Chen had paid damages of HK$3.9 million to the four people he had attacked and he had sold his flat to pay the unusually large sum of civil claim money. Appeal court judges Derek Pang and Anthea Pang said High Court judge Judianna Barnes should have considered the payment as a mitigating factor. They said Chen had "showed his sincerity" by starting to make compensation arrangements even before the trial of this case began, which greatly reduced the suffering of the four victims during the civil claim process. But the appeal court judges disagreed with the appellant's lawyers that the starting point of the sentence was too high, noting the victims were traumatised both physically and psychologically. Chiu lost part of his left ear as a result, and the other man surnamed Wan, who sustained multiple knife injuries, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. The judges added they did not agree that Chen had assaulted the four because he was triggered, noting he was the one who initiated a brawl with Wan. The fact that Chen, under the influence of alcohol, lost his temper and attacked the victims after Wan swore at him, did not make him less culpable, the judges said. They also refused to accept the appellant's promise to donate his body for scientific research after death as a proof of positive good character.
