Elderly woman jailed for 20 days, fined HK$3,000 over slapping child in Kwun Tong mall

An elderly woman has been jailed for 20 days and fined HK$3,000 over a fight in a Kwun Tong shopping mall, in which she was filmed slapping a child.

Kwun Tong Magistrates’ Courts. Photo: GovHK.

Leung Lai-ha and co-defendants Xu Yang and Ng Ka-wun appeared at Kwun Tong Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday.

They faced charges of fighting in a public place over an altercation at a play area in the APM shopping mall in August.

Leung, 69, is Ng’s mother, and they were at the play area with Ng’s son. Xu was there with her daughter.

Leung, who hit Xu’s five-year-old daughter after the child argued with her grandson over a basketball, also faced a charge of common assault.

The altercation at APM in Kwun Tong on August 26, 2026. Photo: Screenshot, via Threads.

The elderly defendant pleaded guilty to both charges. Magistrate Li Chi-ho said he considered Leung’s remorse and that she did not evade responsibility, local media reported.

He fined her HK$3,000 for fighting in a public place. For the common assault offence, Li said the girl had not attacked Leung and had no ability to fight back. Calling an immediate custodial sentence “inevitable” due to the trauma caused to the child, Li sentenced Leung to 20 days’ imprisonment.

Li handed a HK$1,000, 12-month bind-over order to Leung’s daughter, Ng. A bind-over order is an agreement between the court and the defendant under which the defendant must pay the stated sum if they fail to maintain good behaviour for the set period.

Xu initially intended to plead guilty, but changed her plea. Her duty lawyer requested that the magistrate issue a bind-over order, which was granted on the same terms as Ng’s.