By Vir B. Lumicao
 |
| Case was heard at Eastern Court |
A technician was convicted in Eastern Court
Jesnar Bade, a 55-year-old Hong Kong
resident, was ordered held in custody until May 2 pending a community service
report.
The defense lawyer had requested the report as part of a bid to help
Bade escape a prison term, but Magistrate Cheung Kit-yee said a jail sentence was
still an option.
When contacted by The SUN, the victim identified in court
only as Miss X, said she was moved to tears by the outcome of the case. She was
not in court for the verdict.
But earlier, Miss X, a mother of three, gave evidence as the
prosecution’s primary witness, while her employer’s elderly mother-in-law was
the second witness.
Miss X told the court how Bade had embraced her from behind
twice and tried to hold her breasts as she asked him to teach her how to bypass
the alarm system in her employer’s house in Mid-Levels in July last year.
She said she covered her breasts with her arms, then elbowed
him with her right arm, while saying, “Kuya, huwag ganyan! (Big brother, back
off!).”
“OK, but I’ll have to kiss you then,” the defendant
allegedly replied before eventually stepping away.
To make matters worse, the defendant sent her a WhatsApp
message about half an hour later saying he had an erection because of her.
In her testimony, the elderly woman said she called the manager
of the security service company, G4S, and asked him to come to her house after
Miss X showed her the text message. When the manager saw the message, he helped
the elderly woman call the police.
The defense did not call any witness.
In a written verdict that she read out in court, the
magistrate said she found the complainant credible because her evidence was
straightforward and clear.
The magistrate rejected the defendant’s claim that he had
only tapped Miss X on the shoulder and did not embrace her. The magistrate said
it was clear from Miss X’s evidence that she did not know the defendant, and
had talked to him only for the first time when the technician went to her
employer’s house,
“I consider it unacceptable and unreasonable for a male stranger
to embrace a woman from behind and to do it twice,” the magistrate said, as she
declared the defendant guilty on both charges.
Bade’s wife, who was in court, wiped off tears on hearing
that her husband had been convicted.
The defense lawyer said in mitigation that Bade was a first
offender, had a clear record, a good family. His wife is said to be a bank
executive, his elder daughter is working, and his younger daughter and his son
are studying.
He said Bade had worked for the security company for 24
years and had a good work record.
The lawyer vigorously argued for community service to give
his client an opportunity to show his remorse.
