'I’m Mao' student streaker to be detained in hospital
Bipolar student who stopped traffic as he ran naked along the King's Road has already been punished with ridicule, argues lawyer
PUBLISHED : Friday, 28 February, 2014, 1:05pm
UPDATED : Friday, 28 February, 2014, 4:50pm
Sijia Jiang [email protected]
Wang Hantao was given a two-month hospital order to be carried out at the Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre. Photo: SCMP
A bipolar Baptist University student who ran nude through North Point shouting “I’m Mao Zedong” has been sentenced to two months detention in hospital.
Wang Hantao, 23, stopped traffic as he streaked down King’s Road, shouting and at times laying down on the tarmac. He ignored a policewoman trying to coax him back to the pavement and knocked her aside when she tried to subdue him with a baton, causing bruising and swelling to her knees.
Eastern Court heard that during the incident, at about 9am on December 2 last year, he repeatedly shouted: "My name is Johny, my sister is Shelly, I am Mao Zedong, haha!"
He admitted one count of assaulting a police officer and one count of committing an act outraging public decency.
His lawyers argued that Wang, a fourth year student at Baptist University, was bipolar and had been under work and emotional stress.
After his arrest he told police he had been under the illusion that someone was scolding him.
In mitigation, defence counsel Harold Ng said Wang’s family had a history of mental problems.
"He caused the drama due to his problem. And as a result of what happened, he has become the subject of media reports and ridicule, he has already received punishment."
Magistrate Symon Wong Yu-wing accepted Ng’s plea to adopt the sentence recommended in the psychiatrist’s report and gave Wang a two-month hospital order to be carried out at the Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre.
A hospital order requires detention in a hospital with police security.
