Hong Kong tutor found guilty of kicking, punching and spraying student, 10, with detergent
Chau Kin-ying, 32, presented herself as a ‘responsible teacher’ but magistrate is unconvinced
West Kowloon Court heard the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, suffered a string of 12 attacks from Chau Kin-ying, 32, that included punching, kicking and pinching. The tutor was accused of kneeing the student in the back and pushing his head against the table up to six times.
Magistrate Matthew Leung Man-liang said: “The present case is a serious one involving a 10-year-old victim.”
But Chau’s lawyer said the incident on May 2 last year was an isolated case in her four years of service at the tutorial school in Cheung Sha Wan. He said her employer was still willing to hire her, given she was a “responsible teacher”.
Chau did not visibly react when she was convicted after trial on one count of ill-treatment by those in charge of a child or young person, an offence punishable by three years’ imprisonment.
Sentencing was adjourned to October 4, pending Chau’s background report.
The court previously heard the attacks were triggered by a phone call from the boy’s father, who revealed his son did not complete homework and had scored poorly in a dictation test at school.
The boy testified that Chau then hit his forearms with a plastic binder and his head with a thick book, punched his left cheek, and pinched his left ear lobe.
