Construction worker told court he vented his frustration from the rejection by throwing drain cleaner on restaurant diners and staff
JULIE.CHU@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 30 December, 2015, 12:37am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 30 December, 2015, 11:19am
The attacker splashed corrosive acid on people at Cafe de Corals in San Po Kong and Tsz Wan Shan. Photo: Nora Tam
A construction worker who splashed drain cleaner on diners in two restaurants after a massage worker refused to have sex with him was ordered yesterday to receive medical treatment in hospital for a year.
Lam Yan-lun, 47, pleaded guilty in the High Court to eight counts of throwing corrosive fluid with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
Eight people, including a 3 1/ 2-year-old boy, suffered burns in the attacks on November 25 last year.
The court heard that four psychiatrists had diagnosed Lam as suffering psychiatric illness. But Lam denied this and insisted he was normal.
However, Deputy Judge Gareth Lugar-Mawson told him: “You did terrible things and you did not know.”
“You are seriously ill and you require medical treatment.”
The court was told how Lam went to a hardware store in San Po Kong and bought a container of drain cleaning fluid in the afternoon of November 25 last year.
READ MORE: Police hold man, 46, over acid attacks at Café de Coral restaurants
He then went to a Cafe de Coral restaurant at Wah Hing Industrial Mansions in San Po Kong and threw the fluid around, causing injuries to an assistant manager and a mother and her son. Two other employees were hurt when they tried to help the trio.
Lam then took a taxi to another Cafe de Coral outlet in the Tsz Wan Shan Shopping Centre. Three staff members suffered burns when Lam splashed the fluid around.
Lam was located by the police on the same day. When he was arrested, he told officers: “Ah, sir, those two Cafe de Coral often served food like s***, so I splashed the staff members.”
He further disclosed that he was turned down by a masseuse in Temple Street and was in a bad mood, so he went to the hardware store to buy the drain cleaner to vent his frustration.
All eight victims suffered facial burns in the attacks but had since recovered. The boy was left with corneal abrasions to his left eye. He required specialist treatment at an eye hospital but had not been left with any permanent disability.
The assistant manager in the first incident still suffered acute stress reactions and was continuing to undergo psychiatric treatment.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1896414/boy-3-injured-cafe-de-coral-restaurant-acid-attack-after
