Swedish businessman in Hong Kong loses appeal in domestic helper rape case

A Swedish businessman convicted of raping his domestic helper has failed to clear his name and has been sent back to prison after a Hong Kong court dismissed his appeal.The Court of Appeal on Tuesday upheld the conviction of Patrik Tobias Ekstrom, who was unanimously found guilty by a jury two years ago and sentenced to seven years in prison for raping his helper in his bedroom on October 27, 2022.The Swedish national, in his late thirties, who was granted bail pending appeal on one count of rape and one of buggery without consent, maintained that the acts were consensual and the helper had entered his bedroom willingly.He denied threatening to kill her if she did not comply with his demand for sex.A three-judge panel had considered appeal arguments from Ekstrom’s counsel Elizabeth Herbert the trial judge had failed to give appropriate directions to the jury regarding evidence that might suggest Ekstrom had raped another helper in the past.According to the victim’s testimony, when Ekstrom pressed her for sex, he told her he had previously had sex with the family’s former helper.She said Ekstrom told her he had “done such a thing” before and could “get away with it again”.