Hong Kong maid jailed for serving urine

An Indonesian maid has been jailed for six days in Hong Kong for serving her boss a cup of water containing urine.

The 29-year-old pleaded guilty to a charge of "administering poison or other destructive or noxious substance with intent to injure", but insisted she had used the urine to treat a skin condition and its appearance in her employer's cup was a mistake.

Her boss, Szeto Ching-han, smelled the urine after asking for a cup of water, and then asked the maid to drink it - which she did. Szeto, however, kept the liquid to have it tested in a lab, the South China Morning Post reported.

The defence argued that the maid's employer had not drunk the urine and the substance was not poisonous.

"The only contact the former employer had with the so-called poisonous mixture was the smell," her lawyer was quoted as telling the court.

The magistrate who heard the case said there was no evidence that the maid had suffered any harm after drinking from the cup, but still gave her a six-day jail sentence, saying the court "must send a message to the public".