A woman's former lover threatened to throw their baby daughter from their flat unless she lent him money, a court heard yesterday. Ms X, whose identity is protected, broke down in tears as she testified in the District Court against Mandy Hon Sui-ho - the 27-year-old father of her daughter - who is charged with demanding money from her with threats between 2003 and 2007. The court was told that Ms X, 27, came to know Hon in 2001 at the department store where she worked. The pair became lovers and had a baby girl in August 2003. But Ms X said Hon, who was unemployed, often assaulted her and her daughter when she refused or was unable to lend him money. 'He said he would throw my daughter out on the street if I did not lend him money,' she said of an incident in late 2003 or early 2004. 'I was very frightened. I cried.' The court was told that the assaults continued for years until Ms X filed a police report in January this year that led to the arrest of Hon at the Lo Wu checkpoint. Asked why she had not gone to the police sooner, Ms X said: 'It was because of my daughter and I still loved him at that time.' Hon pleaded not guilty before District Court judge Chua Fi-lan yesterday to five charges, including blackmail, criminal intimidation and conspiracy to steal. Prosecutor Ronald Mayne said Ms X was last victimised by Hon and a woman who claimed to be Hon's wife in a Shenzhen flat on the night of January 5. Mr Mayne said that after being assaulted, Ms X had been photographed naked in an embarrassing position. She was told to give Hon HK$100,000 or he would distribute the photos. She had been poked in the neck with a sharp object and threatened with a hammer if she made a noise. Ms X went to the police and Hon was caught the next day on his way back from Shenzhen. Five digital photographs Hon allegedly used in his extortion bid were retrieved from a memory card seized by police, the court heard. The hearing continues today.
