By Vir B. Lumicao
A Filipina domestic worker who stole goods worth $1,600 last
October from a supermarket in Quarry Bay escaped jail after admitting the
offence, and was instead fined $2,000.
D. A. Toquero, mother of a 10-year-old boy and
7-year-old daughter, was sentenced at
Eastern Court on Jan 15 after admitting one count of theft.
The prosecution said that the offense took place on Oct 14
last year inside the Aeon supermarket in Kornhill
Plaza , Kornhill Road Quarry Bay
Court records show Toquero entered the shop at around 3:50pm
that day and took some items from the racks and put them in her reusable
shopping bag and backpack.
The stolen items included two packs of coffee worth $107.80,
ten packs of chocolate valued at $242.80, two boxes of fish oil pills worth
$350, four packs of baby products costing $199, one T-shirt worth $239, a pair of baby shoes worth $299 and a hoodie
priced at $159. The defendant then walked out of the store without paying for
the goods.
Unknown to the Filipina, an Aeon security guard in plainclothes
saw her take the merchandise from the racks and stuff them into her reusable
bag and then left the store without paying for them.
The guard, Cheung Wai-hung, who had seen her stuff the
merchandise into her bag, stopped her outside the store and asked to search her
bags.
Most of the unpaid items were found in her reusable bag while
the hoodie was found in her backpack. Cheung asked for the sale invoice but Toquero
could not produce it, so the guard reported to the police.
The police arrested Toquero and charged her with theft last
Nov 16.
In mitigation, a duty lawyer assigned to Toquero said the
woman has two children who are living with her parents in the Philippines. They
were depending on the $2,500 that she sent them monthly.
The magistrate said she considered Toquero’s clear record
and the fact the stolen items were recovered and returned to the owner, Aeon
Stores (Hong Kong ) Company Ltd.
She fined the helper $2,000, already discounted by one-third
for her guilty plea.
Toquero’s employer accompanied her to the court but left
before the case was heard.
Meanwhile, a 29-year-old
Filipina domestic helper has been charged with theft in the same court for
allegedly stealing a platinum ring and a gold ring from her employer in Sai Ying
Pun late last year.
No plea was taken and the defendant, G. Manuel, was allowed
to post bail of $300. She is due to go back to court on Mar.5.
The alleged theft reportedly took place between Nov 18 and
Dec 15 last year in a flat at Kwong Fung Terrace on Third Street, Sai Ying Pun.
The rings were said to be the property of Lee Man Ying but
their value was not indicated.
The defendant was accompanied to the court by a case officer
from the NGO Mission for Migrant Workers.:
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