Hong Kong man gets 4 months in jail after admitting splashing water on women’s buttocks
- Construction worker, 56, says stress and psychological problems led him to target three victims
A Hong Kong construction worker was on Tuesday sentenced to four months in jail after he told a court stress and psychological problems led him to attack two teenage girls and a woman by splashing water on their buttocks.
Li Kwok-ding, 56, admitted at West Kowloon Court that he was responsible for some of the random attacks on female pedestrians in shopping districts earlier this year.
Li, who lives on the outlying island of Peng Chau, was identified as a suspect after two similar incidents were caught on CCTV cameras in Mong Kok.
He was first seen to soak a 19-year-old girl with water outside Mong Kok MTR station on February 5.
The teenager, who was shopping in the area, turned around after she felt a damp sensation on her bottom, but Li was able to get away undetected.
Li targeted a 32-year-old woman on her way home on February 18 after she had watched a film in Yau Ma Tei. He first splashed the victim with warm water on Sai Yeung Choi Street South and struck again on nearby Tung Choi Street moments later.
He was arrested on the evening of February 23 after he poured drinking water on the buttocks of a 17-year-old tourist from mainland China on Great George Street in Causeway Bay.
He pleaded guilty in court to three charges of common assault.
Li told officers he could not control himself when he splashed water onto the girl in Causeway Bay. He added he had “suddenly felt unwell” when he saw the teenager leave a shop in the area.
He claimed he had committed the offence because of “tremendous stress and negative emotions” because of family and work problems.
He insisted he did not aim specifically for any part of her body and that he felt sorry for his actions.
Li admitted a similar offence on February 5 because he had felt “emotionally suppressed”.
He also identified himself in CCTV footage taken on February 18, but refused to say anything further about the incident.
A later forensic examination found liquids seized from Li were not corrosive and did not contain any bodily fluids.
Magistrate Jason Wan Siu-ming jailed Li for two months on each count, but ordered a partly consecutive sentence, which meant the defendant will serve four months behind bars.
