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| Defendant was stopped and searchd by police near this place in North Point (Google photo) |
It might have been fear or guilt, but for more than two months, a Filipina fighting deportation to the Philippines held on to a bag she found on the street in North Point, with all its contents intact, save for some $900 she had spent.
Aurora Delfin’s apparent dilemma over the bag ended early on March 28 this year when a police officer stopped her on the street in front of Roca building, a few blocks from where it was lost by a drunk local.
After she was stopped, Delfin, 37, yielded a blue recycling bag in which the leather bag belonging to local resident Lam Wing Pong was found. Inside were his HKID card, China Return Home card, four ATM and credit cards, ear phones, as well as $65.60 in cash, which it turned out, was all that was left of the $1,000 he had kept inside.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
A summary
of facts read out in court said Lam told the police that he last saw his bag on
Jan. 23, 2025, at about 1am, after he left a bar at the China United Centre in
North Point, drunk. He said he didn’t know where or how he came to part with
the bag. .
For her part, Delfin told
the police following her arrest that she had used Lam’s money to buy
food.
Appearing in Eastern
Court today, Delfin readily admitted to a count of theft, and through her
lawyer, expressed her willingness to compensate Lam for the $934.40 that she
had spent.
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| Basahin ang detalye! |
Her lawyer said in
mitigation that Delfin, being a torture claimant, was relying solely on the
meager allowance that she was getting from the International Social Service to
tide her over while awaiting the outcome of her application for
non-refoulement.
Magistrate Kestrel Lam took
note of her guilty plea, her willingness to compensate the victim, and the fact
that all the stolen items had been recovered, before sentencing Delfin to two
months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.
