Labourer admits pricking women's 'big buttocks'
A construction worker who pricked women with toothpicks and wire in Tuen Mun said he did so because he could not resist their 'big buttocks'.
Pham Van Diep, 43, a Vietnamese resident of Tuen Mun, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm yesterday at Tuen Mun Court for pricking two women, one on September 28 at San Hui Market, and the other on Monday on Yan Ching Street.
When police arrested him, he said he found the buttocks of the women were big and so he pricked them once out of impulse, the court heard.
A lawyer for Diep said he had drunk rice wine and beer before the incidents.
Principle Magistrate Kwok Wai-kin said Diep had spread fear among many women in Tuen Mun that they would be attacked with infected syringes. Diep's attacks made headlines last week and raised fears in Tuen Mun of attacks akin to those reported in Xinjiang last month.
The woman in the first incident, Chai Wai-ying, 20, was shopping with her sister at the market when she felt a prick.
She screamed, turned around and saw Diep putting something into one of the pockets of his jeans. Chai wanted to stop Diep, but was too scared to do so.
The other victim, Sum Mun-ling, 39, was walking at the junction of Yan Ching Street and Kai Fat Path when she felt a prick. She took no notice of it, but returned home to find a very painful red dot on her posterior.
Both sought medical treatment and called the police, who arrested Diep on Monday. Diep admitted that he had used a toothpick on Chai and a thin piece of wire on Sum.
The woman are still being monitored for any infections they might have contracted because of the pricks.
Diep has 22 previous convictions, including four for violence- related offences.
He will be sentenced at the end of the month, pending psychiatric, psychological and other reports. Kwok remanded Diep in custody.
