Affluent finance consultants are perfectly capable of dumping red paint over people's heads, a judge ruled yesterday. In February, consultant Stephen Chow Chun, 40, was convicted of ambushing a receptionist outside the firm where she worked and pouring paint over her. She was taken to hospital to have the paint removed. Chow was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He went before the Court of First Instance hoping to clear his name. Chow claimed his clear record and job as a $60,000-a-month consultant made it unlikely he would go around throwing paint over people. But Deputy Judge Gerard Muttrie rejected the argument. 'Good character is not a defence,' he said. He upheld the magistrate's sentence of two months, suspended for three years. Chow was lying in wait when his victim emerged from her Wyndham Street office. The financial consultancy firm owed Chow's employers money. Chow was hired by Joy Long Holdings last year when the firm was preparing for listing on the stock exchange.
