A drunk who allegedly assaulted a young woman at the Yi Chun St. mini-bus stop outside Pets Central and the Picture House has appeared in Kwun Tong court. The 43-year-old Sai Kung town resident named Ho was charged with common assault, according to Senior Inspector Jacky Chan. Ho pleaded not guilty and will appear for a court hearing on 17 December.
Jacky said Ho was arrested for indecent assault around midnight on 28 October. Ho, who appeared drunk, had a four-year-old child with him. A woman in her early twenties accused Ho of deliberately bumping into her. An argument started followed by scuffling. A restaurant staff member tried to calm the situation. Some residents joined in and an unruly scene developed. A Station Sergeant arrived along with Emergency Unit officers. The Sergeant, from the local station, did a good job on controlling the incident, Jacky said.
After CID interviewed the young lady the charge against Ho was changed to common assault.
The Senior Inspector reiterated that the police are satisfied the restaurant staff member was trying to do the right thing, seeking to prevent further trouble and protect the woman. Shown the letter below from Hoi Ha resident John Wright (Chairman of Friends of Sai Kung) who said his son James was a witness at the scene, Jacky said the incident “wasn’t at all racist”, just unruly behaviour.
Here is John Wright’s letter to SAI KUNG BUZZ which we showed to the police operations boss:
I write about the Picture House incident in your issue a few weeks ago. I have since learned that my son James was present at the time. By now it may be stale news, but you might be able to squeeze another story out of it by way of clarification.
James was standing on the pavement peacefully talking with friends outside the Boozer or somewhere very nearby, On the other side of the road a drunk Chinese man was abusing a Chinese woman who had a child about 7 years old with her.
He became increasingly belligerent, pushing the woman / knocking her about and loudly abusing her, so the man in charge of the Picture House intervened and stopped him. The drunk ran off into the old village and came back with a gang of equally drunk companions whom he had apparently told that the “gweilos” were hitting the child.
I think the Picture House guy took the woman into the Picture House and locked the door to avoid a nasty racist mob. The mob crossed the road and became aggressive with James and his friends, accusing them of hitting the child.
They were very drunk and had a swipe at the “gweilos” making threats, throwing feint punches and shouting the usual racist epithets. The police came and restored order. They took the drunk away. I do not know what happened afterwards, because the police did not bother questioning or taking statements from any of the “gweilo” eye-witnesses.
John Wright
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