Fetish Fashion owner taught safe spanking, says witness

A businesswoman who took part in sadomasochism parties at the Fetish Fashion sex shop told a court yesterday its owner, Brenda Scofield, taught her to spank people without hurting them.

The 41-year-old Chinese woman said she joined the parties out of curiosity and an interest in bondage, discipline and sadomasochism (BDSM), and believed it was a process of self-exploration.

She said she felt comfortable surrounded by 'like-minded' people who were dressed in latex fetish wear, insisting it was 'not something dirty'.

Scofield, 54, and shop manager Loretta Mui Shuk-han, 40, each face one charge of keeping a disorderly house and six of managing an objectionable performance.

Scofield's husband, businessman Laurence Richard Scofield, 48, faces one charge of aiding and abetting in keeping the house and six of aiding and abetting an objectionable performance.

The woman, who is married and has a 12-year-old daughter, said she was introduced to the shop by a friend. She first went to a party two years ago.

The woman said she began as an observer but later tried out the activities with her friend. She had been to four parties over the past two years.