Yesterday he told the court he was positive Kung was guilty of all three counts, but Hong Kong law required the unsworn evidence of child witnesses to be corroborated by other evidence.

'The public of Hong Kong are rightly sick and tired of children being abused in this fashion,' Judge Britton said.

He said the law would fall 'into public disrepute' if molesters were dealt with lightly.

The judge subtracted six months from the maximum sentence of seven years because the girl's parents had attacked Kung, beating him in the genital area, when they discovered what he had done.

He also suffered two cracked ribs.

Defence lawyer Alan So said the assault had left his client unable to urinate.

Another six months was subtracted for Kung's advanced years.

But the judge said the old man's age could not shelter him from punishment.

'I am locking you away so that other young children will not suffer the same fate at your hands,' he said.

'At your age you should be a fountain of wisdom to a child,' he said. 'Instead you are a danger to society.' Kung was totally unrepentant, the judge said.

He told probation officers he was innocent, and accused the girl of framing him to avenge a previous grudge.

Judge Britton dismissed Kung's story as nonsense.

'You are a wicked old man,' he said.

'You took an innocent young child and exploited her innocence and body to satisfy your lust for a handful of coins.' The judge told the court he believed the child's version of events.

The nine-year-old had told the court that the man she called 'uncle' had lured her into his Sha Tin home with promises of sweets and money last September.

Once she was inside the hut, he had offered her $10 if she would let him play with her private parts.

The girl said she was told to take off her clothes and lie down on the bed. He then tried to have sex with her but failed.

The child was then sent on her way with $10 and a warning not to say anything to her parents.

But Kung's crime was uncovered after the girl contracted gonorrhoea.

Judge Britton told Kung that the venereal disease had made his crime all the more horrific.

Left untreated, gonorrhoea can cause infertility, pelvic disorders and even death.

'You must have known you had this painful disease and yet you had genital contact with her,' the judge said.

He noted that the old man's not guilty plea had forced the nine-year-old to relive her ordeal on the witness stand.

Defence lawyer Alan So said in mitigation that Kung was a 'good and responsible father' whose old age would turn a few years in prison into a life sentence.

But Judge Britton dismissed that argument.

'From the facts in this case there appears to be plenty of life left in you yet,' he said.