Coroner told of student's last messages before fatal fall

University of Science and Technology student Chow Tsz-lok said in a Telegram group just before his fatal fall that he was at a Tseung Kwan O car park to "grab the popcorn," police told the Coroner's Court.

Chow, 22, died from brain injuries four days after he plunged from the third to the second floor of Sheung Tak Estate car park in the early hours of November 4 last year, while police clashed with anti-government protesters nearby.

Testifying before coroner Ko Wai-hung for the second day, police officer Lam Chi-keung said yesterday that Chow sent messages in two Telegram group chats related to anti-government protesters on the night of his fall.

Screen-captured photos from Chow's tablet, where Lam found his Telegram conversations, were presented in court. The student had used pictures of protesters holding umbrellas and standing in tear gas as the tablet's wallpapers.

At 12.41am, Chow said in one group chat of six members: "They fired tear gas up to the car park." A netizen in the group then asked him: "Will you be able to go back home?"

Chow replied: "I'm just staying at the car park to grab the popcorn. I have nothing [no protest gear] with me." At 12.49am he added: "Plus I've brought something to give to others."

Those were his last messages in this group, as he did not reply to other members who asked whether he was safe.

In another group chat of eight people, Chow asked a netizen if he was safe at 11.28pm on November 3, after which the two shared information on police operations near the car park.

At 12.46am, Chow sent a photo taken inside the car park, showing the junction of Tong Ming Street and Tong Chun Street, where riot police set up a cordon. He then stopped short of messaging.

Lam said while he was able to access Chow's tablet with the password found in the student's unlocked desktop computer, he could not get into Chow's iPhone using the same password.

Chow Cho-yiu, a police officer from the cyber security and technology crime bureau, told the court that he tried to connect the phone to a software but failed to break into it or extract any data.

He added that the police had no other way to access the phone.

Coroner Ko said there will be no hearing of Chow's case next week. The inquest could take one or two weeks more than scheduled before it ends.

He also urged members of the two Telegram groups that Chow had been in to contact the court if they knew anything else regarding his whereabouts during the incident.

mandy zheng