Hong Kong man who planted sewing needles in bus seats sent by court for mental assessment
- Unemployed man pleaded guilty to bizarre crime that injured three passengers and triggered copycat incidents
- Lawyers say the case may be first of its kind in the common law jurisdiction
A Hong Kong man who admitted to planting needles in bus seats to hurt passengers because he claimed the drivers were skipping stops has been sent for a mental evaluation.
Mok faces up to seven years in prison after he pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted wounding with intent and two other counts of criminal damage. Two other similar charges were left on court file.
The District Court heard that Mok, who had been remanded since his arrest in July 2018, admitted under caution to police that he had implanted the needles to hurt passengers because he claimed the buses were bypassing stops.
On June 27 last year, the Tsing Yi resident boarded KMB bus route 41A at Cheung On Bus Terminus at 4.47pm with a plan to go shopping in Jordan. He changed his mind and decided to go New Town Plaza in Sha Tin. He got off in Tsim Sha Tsui and walked to Yau Ma Tei to catch route 81. But he missed his stop so he switched to route 48X at Wo Che Terminus.