In November 1846 , in the case of Compton , Hulme refused to uphold a verdict of guilty against Mr Compton for instigating a riot in Canton handed down by the British consular court in Canton . Mr Compton , an English merchant , was fined HK$ 200 for causing a riot by kicking over a Chinese stall and beating its owner with his stick , and appealed to the Supreme Court of Hong Kong . Hulme was highly critical of the way in which the case was handled . Sir John Davis , the Governor of Hong Kong wrote to Lord Palmerston , the Prime Minister , stating : “ Some fresh ordinance will inevitably be required to prevent such mischievous interference in international cases . ” In February 1857 , Hulme presided at the trial of ten Chinese men who had been charged in connection to a mass poisoning of Europeans in Hong Kong known as the Esing Bakery incident . The Attorney General , Thomas Chisholm Anstey , argued that the principal suspect , Cheong Ah-lum , should be hanged regardless of his innocence because it was " better to hang the wrong man than confess that British sagacity and activity have failed to discover the real criminals " . Hulme replied that " hanging the wrong man will not further the ends of justice " , and later accepted the jury 's acquittal of Cheong
Esing Bakery incident
Esing Bakery incident
John Walter Hulme