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The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) has called on littering offenders to co-operate with its law-enforcement officers, who are empowered to issue Fixed Penalty Notices for violations of public cleanliness regulations.

In a case heard this morning (September 8) at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts, a 28-year-old man was sentenced to two weeks' imprisonment for assaulting an FEHD officer who attempted to serve him with a Fixed Penalty Notice.

The defendant was seen discarding a cigarette butt in Bristol Avenue, Tsim Sha Tsui, on July 11 this year. When an FEHD officer stopped him and asked for his personal particulars, he refused to co-operate and assaulted the officer with his friend, who was also sentenced to two weeks' imprisonment.

"Resorting to force to avoid penalties is not only wrong but also carries serious legal consequences," a spokesman for the FEHD warned.

"Members of the public should co-operate with law enforcement officers in the execution of their duties," he said.

End/Monday, September 8, 2003

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