A primary school teacher was convicted yesterday for “deliberately assaulting” special needs students by spraying alcohol-based hand sanitiser into their faces.
Magistrate Winnie Lau Yee-wan declared that 47-year-old Ann Leung had purposefully assaulted Primary One students at the Po Leung Kuk Law’s Foundation School in Yuen Long with a 70 percent alcohol spray between September 2013 and July 2014, the SCMP reports.
Leung’s assistant had earlier told Tuen Mun court that the defendant sprayed the students when they drooled or cried to “warn them”. The court also heard that pupils would weep or push Leung’s bottle away after being sprayed.
“You look ugly crying!” and “Let me sterilise the moisture in the air” the teacher was heard saying in video footage submitted to the court.
Leung’s defence was that she only sprayed the liquid on the students’ hands and the surrounding area for sanitisation. However, the video showed Leung spraying the liquid into pupils’ faces.
The footage, which was circulated among parents, prompted the school to report Leung to the police.
The magistrate convicted her of 11 counts of wilful assault causing injury to a child, but since Lau could not determine the defendant’s intent, the 47-year-old was acquitted of four further counts.
Lam did not buy Leung’s assertion that she had “no idea” the liquid could hurt the students.“She obviously knows alcohol can cause irritation to people’s eyes,” the magistrate remarked.
Lau has sought a background and psychologist’s report on Leung before sentencing on Jan. 8.
A parent, who must remain anonymous for legal reasons, said outside court that she “couldn’t go to bed” and that her “heart ached” when she first saw the video.
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