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| The sentence was handed down at the High Court |
A Swedish businessman diagnosed with a bipolar disorder was sentenced to seven years in jail at the High Court yesterday, after being found guilty of raping his Nepalese domestic helper.
Patrik
Tobias Ekstrom, 36 was earlier taken into custody after being convicted
unanimously by a seven-member jury of a count of rape and another of buggery
without consent, against his helper, identified in court only as “X” on Oct.
27, 2022.
Recorder
Derek Chan noted before sentencing various reports indicating Ekstrom was deemed
unstable in mid-2022, after undergoing severe stress, including his
deteriorating relationship with his wife.
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“Having
sex with (the victim) was a way to cope with his negative feeling,” Chan said,
citing the reports.
Under
Hong Kong law, the maximum penalty for rape or non-consensual buggery is life
imprisonment.
In
mitigation his lawyer, Simon So, said the defendant suffered from bipolar
disorder at the time of the offence, which happened on the day Ekstrom learned that
his wife had left him, and had taken their three children with her to Japan.
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But
in sentencing, Chan said the defendant had grossly breached the trust of the
victim, a first-time migrant worker who was in a vulnerable position as she was
dependent on him for her job.
The
court also noted that the helper had suffered post-traumatic stress, including
having frequent flashbacks of the assault, having nightmares and suffering from
mood swings.
Ekstrom
returned to his Shek O home late that night drunk, and forced the helper to his
bedroom while saying, “I love you, I want you”. He threatened to kill her if
she did not give in to his demand for sex.
The
victim said her employer pressed her down onto the bed before sexually assaulting
her, and only stopped when he cried out in pain.
Early
the next morning, X left the house and
went straight to the police station to file a report. Ekstrom was arrested that
night.
Earlier
on the same day, the defendant transferred $15,000 to the victim’s bank
account.
In
his defense, Ekstrom that it was the helper who initiated sex with him as she
wanted to give him “comfort’’ after being abandoned by his family.
He
also claimed they had consensual sex previously, when he gave her money each
time, and after which the helper had asked for help in repaying another
debt.
So
said that up until the offence, the defendant had been a “successful
businessman”, and incurred only a drink-driving conviction about 10 years
before the rape.
But
after the rape, Ekstrom was found guilty of criminally damaging property in a
hospital and in a police vehicle, with both incidents occurring after he was
found walking naked in public.
The
defendant had also gotten involved in a car crash, and had and made a false
report of burglary to police.
The
court was told yesterday that Ekstrom graduated from City University and ran a
successful business selling and distributing electronic products in Hong Kong.
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