Jury acquitted all 14 defendants in 2021 boxing gym death case

A High Court judge instructed the jury to acquit 14 defendants linked to a 2021 case involving the death of a 27-year-old man, after he was found unconscious at a Tai Kok Tsui boxing gym.

The defendants were earlier charged with murder and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. All 14 were found not guilty and immediately discharged.

The incident happened in June 2021, when a 27-year-old man was found unconscious the day after he visited a boxing gym in Tai Kok Tsui. He was later confirmed dead after he was sent to the hospital.

The police subsequently arrested several individuals on suspicion of murder and assisting offenders.

The case was heard at the High Court. The defendants consisted of 12 men and one woman aged between 26 and 34. They were charged with murder, with four of them charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice for destroying evidence relevant to the investigation of the deceased's injuries.

The 57-year-old father of the sole female defendant was also charged with assisting an offender after he was suspected of hiding his daughter at a rented unit.

Authorities entered the boxing gym four days after the incident took place and discovered the intense smell of disinfectants as well as traces of the scene being cleaned up.

This as the 13 defendants successively entered the gym on the day of the man's death. At least one defendant said that they were drinking with the deceased on that night, further noting the 27-year-old man mentioned he struggled with debt, took drugs and engaged in physical altercation during the occasion.

The forensic report indicated the man died as a result of traumatic brain injury complicated by bronchopneumonia, but could not determine the precise time when the head injury took place.

The report also stated it would not exclude the possibility of the man having already been injured prior to entering the boxing gym.

Judge Amanda Jane Woodcock concluded there was insufficient direct, indirect and circumstantial evidence that point to the 13 defendants' responsibility for the man's death.

The jury acquitted the defendants of all charges while the prosecution confirmed that it would not appeal.

They were immediately discharged and granted legal costs.