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| The stolen backpack fell inside the departure area of HK Intl Airport |
A Filipina convicted last month of stealing a backpack containing cash and personal documents in the restricted area of the airport, today received the maximum prison term of six months recommended by the sentencing guidelines.
Ana Labicane, 55, was jaIled for stealing a backpack that
fell from a carry-on luggage being pulled by a Hong Kong resident who was
catching a flight to Taiwan in the early morning of March 5, 2023 in the
Departure Hall of the Hong Kong Airport.
The stolen bag contained cash of HK$630, one Octopus card,
two Taiwan prepaid transportation cards, 11,100 Taiwan dollars in cash, one
cosmetic bag, two passport holders, one HK passport, one wallet, one HKID card,
one WeWu UnionPay credit card, and four ATM cards.
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| TAWAG NA! |
Labicane wept quietly at the West
Kowloon Court as Magistrate Tsang Hing-tung cited his reasons for the stiffest of
the three to six months’ imprisonment he was allowed to impose on her.
She had no remorse, Magistrate Tsang
said, citing Labicane’s not-guilty plea which wasted the court’s time and resources,
her evasive answers during the trial, and her claim that she did not realize
that what she did was illegal.
She also breached the trust given
her by the Airport Authority, which allowed her to work in the restricted area,
not to mention spoiling the holiday of the backpack’s owner, who missed her
flight and had to buy a new ticket.
In the trial, Labicane’s defense was to question her identity
and her previous cautioned statement to police where she admitted the theft,
Tsang said.
But evidence proved her guilt, with CCTV footage showing her picking up the bag, carrying it to the
bakery shop where she worked, then hiding it in the storage room. She was later
filmed going to two toilets, where some contents of the bag were later found to have been discarded.
Labicane was found to have taken the cash and discarded the
personal documents,
some if which were not recovered.
“It poses a security risk to the owner if these items went
to the wrong hands,” Tsang added.
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