Hong Kong rugby player charged with indecent assault and criminal damage
Faizal Solomona Penesa, 33, accused of molesting a bar patron and damaging door bolt while in police custody
A Hong Kong professional rugby player has been accused of molesting a patron at a bar and damaging a door bolt inside a police station while he was held in custody.
Faizal Solomona Penesa, 33, on Friday appeared at Eastern Court for the first time over a count of indecent assault and another of criminal damage.
Prosecutors accused the Samoan national of indecently assaulting an individual at Bobby’s Rabble bar in Central on September 28 last year.
On the same day, he was taken to Central Police Station, where he allegedly damaged a door bolt while being placed in a temporary holding area.
Solomona Penesa’s lawyer told Principal Magistrate David Cheung Chi-wai that his client had no previous criminal record in Hong Kong and sought an adjournment to review the prosecution’s legal documents.
Prosecutors said that Solomona Penesa did not know the victim, having only met the person at the bar that night.