Guinean man who attacked 'small and fragile' woman for asking him not to urinate in Hong Kong lane jailed for six years
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 19 November, 2015, 12:12am
UPDATED : Thursday, 19 November, 2015, 12:12am
Julie Chu
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The incident took place in Kowloon City in January. Photo: SCMP Pictures
A Guinean who tried to rape a 63-year-old woman when she asked him not to urinate in a lane was jailed for six years in the High Court on Wednesday.
The jury of six took three hours to reach a majority verdict and found Ali Keita, 27, guilty.
Mr Justice Louis Tong Po-sun said: "[The victim] has done nothing except asking you to go to somewhere else to urinate."
He described the victim as a "fragile" and "small" woman and said Keita's conduct was close to rape.
The judge recalled one witness, who worked for a supermarket near the scene, said the victim was now afraid to go to the lane.
"The incident has caused real trauma," he said. The judge said Keita showed no remorse and there was no room to consider a lesser sentence.
The court heard the victim, who was living on public assistance, often went to the lane at the rear of Sung Wong Toi Road in Kowloon City to collect cardboard to make a little extra money. On the evening of January 9, she saw Keita there and that he was about to urinate and asked him not to.
Keita - 37 years younger, 42 centimetres taller and 25kg heavier than his victim - pushed her to the floor, took off her pants, slapped her private parts and tried to rape her.
Staff from a nearby supermarket answered the victim's cries for help and Keita was arrested at the scene.
He did not give evidence in court but had previously described his victim as "big and tall" and that she acted like a "crazy beast and made him scared". Keita claimed the victim had taken away his bag and that he had asked her for it back.
The court heard Keita came to Hong Kong with his family from his West African homeland in 2005, and received a secondary education in the city.
He was convicted of two counts of indecent assault in 2010 and was jailed for 14 days. He also had convictions for common assault and theft in 2012 and 2014 respectively.
Keita's family had since emigrated to the United States and left him alone here. He married a local woman but she had left him after he was involved in this case.
