FDH Fined for Taking Giordano Clothes
A former domestic worker was fined $2,500 after pleading guilty to theft at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts.
Judge Jacky Ip Kai-leung on January 20 convicted Mary Jane U. of theft after she admitted to taking five pieces of clothing items from a Giordano shop.
The prosecution said that at about 9:52 a.m., the manager of the clothing shop in a branch in Central observed the defendant acting suspiciously.
May Jane then took the five clothing items and put them in her recycled bag.
She left the shop without paying for the items. The manager then chased her and called police afterwards.
The defendant initially denied that she took the clothing items, worth $930, without paying for them.
In mitigation, the defendant’s lawyer said the 39-year-old Filipino previously had a clear record before this case. She had arrived in Hong Kong in January 2015, but was terminated on December 23, 2016.
“Her husband works as a construction worker in Saudi Arabia and is earning some $3,200 monthly. She has three children, two daughters aged 16 and nine, and an 11-year-old son and they are all in school,” the lawyer said.
The defendant, he added, sends between $1,000 and $2,000 monthly to her family in the Philippines.
The lawyer also said that Mary Jane was willing to pay $2,000 in fine.
“I have considered the defendant’s good record, and that she pleaded guilty on the first day of trial, which is today, so she is entitled to a 25-percent discount. I have also considered the type of the property that was stolen and the value of the stolen property, I have decided to impose a $2,500-fine,” said Judge Ip.
The defendant had posted a $1,000-bail, and she was given until 4 p.m. of that day to pay for the rest. Otherwise, Judge Ip said, she would face a custodial sentence.
(Source: HongKongNews.com.hk)