Cabbie bites off fingertip of drunk passenger

HONG KONG: A Hong Kong cabbie bit off the fingertip of a drunk passenger who refused to clean up vomit from the taxi, a court report said Tuesday.
 
The fingertip was later recovered by police from the vomit and sewn back on, according to the report in the South China Morning Post.
 
Taxi driver Hui Man-yu appeared Monday in court after admitting inflicting grievous bodily harm on the passenger, Australian Caleb Chau.
 
The 54-year-old was sentenced to 160 hours of community service. However, the court accepted that the trouble in the taxi ride in November last year was initiated by the passenger, rather than the driver.
 
Hui claimed that he had only wanted Chau to clean up the mess that the passenger had made by vomiting in the taxi. In response, Chau began mocking Hui, spat at him and put him in an armlock, which is when the cabbie bit him.
 
"I couldn't breathe or move my head... I never meant to hurt him," Chau told the court.
 
The prosecution had claimed the passenger only hit Chau after the bite, but the magistrate said the passenger's account was inconsistent.