Elderly Hong Kong couple avoid jail for attacking woman and hitting her breasts at Occupy protests

An elderly couple who molested and assaulted a passer-by at an Occupy protest in Mong Kok last year avoided prison today when a magistrate said she passed lenient sentences because of their history of cancer.

So Suet-ling, 65, was jailed for two weeks, suspended for one year, for molesting a woman, named as “X” in court for legal reasons, while her husband Chan Nam-sing, 72, was fined HK$8,000 for molesting X.

So had previously pleaded not guilty to one count of common assault, while Chan denied committing one charge of indecent assault.

Kwun Tong magistrate Peony Wong Nga-yan said that their offences could warrant immediate jail terms, but she passed lenient sentences due to “humanitarian reasons”.

The court heard that So and Chan had survived breast and liver cancer respectively, and they still had regular medical appointments.

Earlier, Kwun Tong Court heard that on October 4, the couple molested and assaulted the 36-year-old victim at Argyle Street in Mong Kok while she was filming the protest zones with her mobile phone.