An elderly Hong Kong man, known on the internet as “Mr Ho” after a whirlwind romance with a much younger mainland Chinese woman, has admitted spraying insecticide on a pedestrian who taunted him about controversies arising from his marriage.
Tuen Mun Court on Tuesday also heard that Ho Huen, 77, had separated from his wife and was now living in a home for the elderly, with most of his savings taken away by his children from his first marriage.
The retiree pleaded guilty on Tuesday to assault occasioning actual bodily harm for attacking a woman, 41, during an altercation at Siu Hong railway station on May 25.
The court heard that Ho and his wife had argued with the passer-by and her 15-year-old son after the woman described the couple as “rats scurrying across the street”, a Chinese idiom used to describe someone who is loathed by everyone.
The defendant retrieved a canister of bug spray from his wife’s bag and used the poisonous substance on the complainant, whose right forearm developed rashes and redness.
Under arrest, Ho claimed that he had used the insecticide to kill a mosquito on the woman’s arm.
He admitted committing the offence out of impulse after further caution by officers, saying he had bought the spray many years ago and knew it was harmful to humans.
