Hong Kong teacher punished special needs pupils, some as young as 6, by spraying alcohol sanitiser in their faces
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 23 December, 2015, 11:38pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 23 December, 2015, 11:38pm
Chris Lau
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A YouTube capture of a teacher spraying alcohol-based hand cleaning liquid in the faces of six pupils. Photo: SCMP Pictures
A teacher was convicted yesterday of punishing seven special needs pupils, some as young as six, by spraying alcohol-based hand cleaning liquid into their faces.
Magistrate Winnie Lau Yee-wan said Ann Leung Pui-ki, 47, had deliberately assaulted the Primary One pupils at the Po Leung Kuk Law’s Foundation School in Yuen Long with isopropyl alcohol between September 2013 and July last year.
Tuen Mun Court heard earlier that Leung sprayed the pupils when they cried or drooled, which her assistant had described as Leung’s attempt to warn them.
The teacher, who defended herself, claimed said she merely sprayed the liquid on the pupils’ hands and their surroundings for sanitisation.
Video footage capturing Leung spraying the liquid – which was sent to parents and prompted the school to report her to the police – was submitted to court.
The magistrate convicted Leung of 11 counts of wilful assault causing injury to a child after praising the honesty and reliability of the prosecution witnesses, including the assistant. She also gave weight to the authenticity of the video footage.
But Leung was acquitted of four counts, as Lau failed to establish the defendant’s intent.
Before convicting Leung yesterday, Lau noted how one of the victims was so scared after being sprayed that he froze.
She slammed Leung for being untrustworthy by claiming that she had no idea the liquid could cause irritation when it came into contact with a person’s face or eyes.
Lau said that when Leung was cross-examined she conceded that she would never spray her face with the liquid for fear it could go into her eyes.
“She obviously knows alcohol can cause irritation to people’s eyes,” the magistrate said.
In a video played in court earlier, Leung was captured complaining about a pupil being noisy and annoying. She sprayed him twice.
The magistrate said while Leung might claim she wanted to help the pupil sanitise his hands in the video, she was in fact punishing the pupil.
The court heard earlier that the pupils would cry or push Leung’s bottle away after being sprayed.
The magistrate sought a background and psychologist’s report on Leung, whom she remanded, and would sentence the defendant on January 8.
Outside court, a parent of one of the victims, whose identity could not be revealed due to legal reasons, described her feeling when she found out about the assault.
“I couldn’t go to bed. I was shocked and my heart ached,” she said, adding that she was in disbelief when she saw in the video what had happened to her child in a school she had always trusted.
She said she was satisfied with verdict and hoped it would be a lesson for Leung to reflect on.
