The Court of Appeal on Thursday vacated the conviction and sentence of former Hong Kong Premier League football player Yip Ka-yu, who was sentenced to five years and three months in prison over a rape case in 2023.
The 28-year-old footballer was convicted of raping a 17-year-old girl in 2021. He had maintained his innocence the entire time, insisting that he had not raped the victim, and had filed an appeal.
The Court of Appeal ruled that the trial judge did not mention the defendant might be under a "genuine but mistaken belief" that the complainant agreed to have sex when instructing the jury.
The Court stated it is impetuous of the judge to not cover "genuine but mistaken belief" in the guidance, creating a huge mistake of leading the jury to not fully consider Yip's mens rea.
It has left Yip with no chance in receiving a not guilty verdict from the jury and making the conviction unreliable.
During the sentencing in October 2023, the judge stated that the complainant was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and has impacted her self-esteem, interpersonal relationships, emotional stability, and studies.
Yip insisted in the original trial that he did not rape the complainant and believed they were developing their relationship at that time.
Yip's side mentioned during the appeal that he and the complainant were in close contact at the time. She was willing to meet Yip at night while no recoil to intimacy was shown and she even performed oral sex on Yip twice.
Vice-President of the Court of Appeal Andrew Colin Macrae, Justice of Appeal Kevin Paul Zervos and Pang Po-kam believed these behaviors were possible to make Yip think the complainant agreed to intimacy and intercourse.
(Natasha Ng and Khan Heeba Lazmi)
