A former Hong Kong police inspector has been sentenced to 10 weeks in prison for molesting two female colleagues.
Tito Yeung, 38, was convicted of two counts of indecent assault but acquitted of one count of common assault at the Fanling Magistrates’ Courts on Wednesday, according to local media reports.
The court granted him bail pending appeals.
Deputy Magistrate Chan On-ting ruled that Yeung, formerly a probationary police inspector, had molested two female colleagues on two separate occasions.
One of the female officers, identified only as X in court, testified that she felt a hand brushing against her buttock at Yuen Long police station on September 9 last year. She screamed and turned around, after which she saw the defendant walking past behind her.
The other female officer, identified as Y in court, told the court that she felt a stroke on her buttock as she was tying her shoelaces at the Police College in Wong Chuk Hang in November 2023. She also saw the defendant passing behind her.
Yeung denied the allegations. He said it was his police equipment, including his service pistol, gloves, and police hat hanging on his waist, that might have touched the two women.
But Chan rejected the defence, saying that the women could not have mistaken the sensations if they were touched by the police equipment or the service pistol.
The magistrate also found that Yeung’s gear could not have touched the women’s buttocks based on his height, gait, and the positions between him and the women during the incidents.
A third female officer, identified as Z in court, alleged that Yeung squeezed her shoulders four to five times on the morning of May 2 last year at Yuen Long police station after she had completed some work.
Chan said the move could be construed as a gesture of gratitude and cleared Yeung of common assault.
The magistrate said Yeung’s behaviours were “extremely disrespectful” towards women and his colleagues, and that the court had to protect women in their working environments.
She handed Yeung a five-week sentence for each count of indecent assault and ordered the two jail terms to be served consecutively.
But Yeung was allowed to be on bail pending his appeals. He had to surrender his travel documents.
