CHRIS LAU CHRIS.LAU@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 10 September, 2015, 7:00am
UPDATED : Thursday, 10 September, 2015, 7:00am
Phan Thi Van admitted hitting the resident in court on Wednesday. Photo: Franke Tsang
A caretaker has admitted hitting a wheelchair-bound elderly man in the Tai Po nursing home caught up in an abuse scandal earlier this year.
Phan Thi Van’s attack on Chiu Sau, 76, at the Cambridge Nursing Home last year was able to come to light thanks to Chiu’s 77-year-old friend, Wong Kin, who captured the incident with his smartphone, Sha Tin court heard on Wednesday.
Phan, 55, pleaded guilty to one count of common assault. The Vietnamese national entered the plea after she was read the charge in her native language.
The Cambridge Nursing Home, situated on Wan Tau Street, sparked controversy in May when Chinese-language newspaper Ming Pao revealed its staff had been making elderly residents wait naked in common areas for showers. Subsequently, its bid to renew its licence was rejected by the Social Welfare Department.
The Cambridge Nursing Home, situated on Wan Tau Street, sparked controversy when its staff were found to have had been making elderly residents wait naked in common areas for showers.
The court heard that Phan hit Chiu on the head at least twice on a day at the end of last year at the premises on the third floor of Kwong On Building.
Wong, who was watching television at the time, was alerted after he heard Chiu shout: “Don’t hit”.
READ MORE: Inspections of Hong Kong aged homes queried amid allegations of abuse
He got his phone out and recorded the event, the court heard. He passed it on to Chiu’s daughter-in-law after raising the incident in a conversation with her in June this year.
Police, who were later notified, arrested Phan, who told them in an interview that she hit Chiu because she was angry at the old man for spilling juice on himself while eating an orange.
Acting Principal Magistrate Cheang Kei-hong sought a report to study the sustainability of a community service order on Phan, before adjourning sentencing to September 23.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1856845/caretaker-hong-kong-nursing-home-which-left-elderly
