Punishment and Discipline

The Hong Kong Gazette of June 23, 1842 reported that two cow thieves were sentenced to flogging and queue cutting. Queue cutting was classified as a Chinese punishment. Victoria Gaol had only six simple rules for prisoners during the first decade. 1. Each prisoner must be searched before he is locked up, and knives or other cutting instruments taken from him; 2. No clothes, food or anything else will be allowed to enter the Gaol without being previously inspected by the Constable on duty; 3. No prisoner will be allowed to quit his cell unless to labour or to obey a call of nature without the Magistrates’ permission; 4. No prisoner will be allowed to receive visitors unless by the sanction of the Magistrate and in the verandah. Prisoners so receiving visits will be searched after their friends shall have left them; 5. Permission to purchase tobacco, fruit and other harmless luxuries will be given to well behaved prisoners. 6. No unnecessary communication to be allowed between prisoners and policemen. The punishments for prisoners were usually flogging, wearing fetters and solitary confinement. The reasons for being punishments mostly because of disobeying rules and orders, refusing to work, speaking bad language and fighting. The Gaol Ordinance in 1853 listed out the use of solitary confinement, dietary punishment and 36 strokes of flogging on prisoners found breaching regulations. The system of branding prisoners was to identify deported prisoners from returning to Hong Kong. The prisoner was branded an arrow on his left earlobe with needles and Indian ink.

The Penal Laws Amendment Bill in 1881 abolished branding and flogging in public. The Penal Laws Amendment Bill in 1881 abolished branding and flogging in public. The use of the Cat-O-Nine tail was abolished in Hong Kong in 1957. A Cat-O-nine tail is currently kept in the Correctional Services Museum. The Regulation of June 1857 fixed the highest number of strokes of flogging to 15. Corporal punishment with flogging frame or flogging horse was used to punish young prisoners.

The crank punishment was introduced in 1868. The prisoner had to turned the handle attached to the wooden box for many times. The superintendent had the power to put fetters on a prisoner for unlimited time before 1877. The Gaol Committee in 1877 recommended that this punishment should only be employed in cases of necessity and such restraint should not be continued for more than 24 hours consecutively. Journal of Victoria Gaol recorded the flogging of four prisoners on July 13, 1931. Each prisoner received 12 strokes by the Cat-O-Nine tails. Journal of Victoria Gaol on July 19, 1932 recorded two prisoners received 15 and 12 stokes in corporal punishment respectively. Journal of Victoria Gaol on July 20, 1932 recorded the execution of two prisoners at 5.03 a.m by garroting. Names of the prisoners as well as their height, weight and the length of drop were recorded.