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Filipina serial thief admits drug problem

Posted on 15 May 2020 No comments
By Vir B. Lumicao
 
The theft was committed in H&M's flagship store in Gala Place, Mong Kok

A Filipina who has a string of convictions for theft has admitted that she has a drug problem.

Sheryl Coronel, 46, made the admission when she appeared in Kowloon City court today, May 15, before Magistrate Ada Yim.

Coronel had pleaded guilty to a count of theft on Apr 28, but Yim delayed the sentencing until today to wait for a drug addiction treatment report on the defendant.

Pindutin pra sa detalye!

Just a day before, Coronel appeared in Eastern Court for another shop theft case in which she and a British national were jointly accused of stealing $550 worth of grocery items in a supermarket in Shek Tong Tsui.

At that hearing, the prosecution said Coronel had five previous convictions, four of them for theft.

Coronel’s lawyer today said the defendant was willing to undergo probation.
He also said the defendant understood the drug report but did not agree with some of its content, particularly the item regarding traces of drugs in her specimen.

The lawyer said the defendant denied she was a drug user, suggesting that the drugs must have been placed by other people in her drinks.

But Yim said that if Coronel denied that she used drugs, how could the court ask for a probation report?
After consulting Coronel, the defense counsel said the Filipina had now admitted that she had a drug problem.

Yim set the sentencing for May 29 and also asked for a copy of each of the psychiatric and psychological reports on the defendant.

Coronel was arrested on Apr 26 for stealing various goods from an H&M shop at Gala Place on Dundas St in Mong Kok.
The items she took consisted of six T-shirts, one shirt, a handbag, four dresses, a pack of socks, a bodysuit, a vest and a pair of shorts, with a total value of $1,744.90.

She wore the shirt and put the rest of the items in her bag then left without paying. But the store security intercepted her and reported the incident.

The prosecution said Coronel had admitted the offense, and that she did it out of greed. 

French pilot tests positive for Covid-19 after being cleared a month ago

Posted on No comments
By The SUN

The pilot was tested at Princess Margaret Hospital where he sought treatment for a finger injury

Hong Kong health officials have played down fears a French pilot found infected with Covid-19 today, May 15, might have spread the virus in Princess Margaret hospital in Kwai Chung where he was treated in a ward for a broken finger.

The 43-year-old private jet pilot reportedly stayed in the hospital ward for only about 30 minutes and was wearing a mask the whole time. He was immediately put in isolation at the same hospital after a routine test showed he had the virus.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said the man’s viral load was low and “not very active” so it was not likely that he infected others.
Chuang also said it was likely the man got infected during one of his travels abroad so his case is being treated as an imported one.

However, the pilot, who raised Hong Kong’s total tally to 1,052, tested negative in an earlier test done on him in mid-April, a few days after flying back to Hong Kong from trips in the United States and France.

As a pilot, he was among those exempted from the mandatory home quarantine for newly arrived residents, but despite this, he reportedly isolated himself for three weeks.

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Chuang says the pilot might have caught the virus before mid-March, when he returned briefly to Hong Kong from London. During this time, he met up with his girlfriend, who later on tested positive for Covid-16.
 
Chuang (left) thinks the pilot had the virus as early as 2 months ago although he tested negative in mid-April

Between Mar 16 and 17, while in France, the pilot reported having a slight fever but did not seek treatment, and recovered on his own.

He returned to Hong Kong on Mar 31, and immediately went into self-quarantine. His test result showed he did not have the virus.
On May 9, he met up with his girlfriend and then went to a private doctor to get himself tested, and the result was again negative.

But after injuring his finger during a sporting activity, he was sent to Princess Margaret’s orthopaedic ward today, where the routine test showed he had the virus.

Meanwhile, health officials say the source of infection of the three members of a family in Tsuen Wan who were found infected earlier this week remains unknown.
Two of the patients are an elderly couple, aged 66 and 63, and the third is their five-year-old granddaughter who lives in another building.

Chuang had said it was possible the grandfather who repaired watches on a fixed stall along Tsuen Wan Market Road had infected his wife and granddaughter. Although asymptomatic, the man’s viral load is said to be high.

Swab tests have begun on about 1,000 people residing in 850 households in the two housing estates where the patients live, and on some shopkeepers in the market the grandmother frequented.

Results of the tests have yet to come out.


Sickly Filipina fined $2,000 for illegal gambling

Posted on No comments
By Vir B. Lumicao

Estrada and her co-accused pleaded guilty to illegal gambling in Kowloon Court

A Filipina who said she had a heart problem was fined $2,000 by a Kowloon City magistrate today, May 15, after pleading guilty to illegal gambling.

Joann Estrada, 52, appeared with Hong Kong males Chew Kwok-fung, 27, and Tam Ka-fai, 50, before Magistrate Amy Chan to answer a charge of “gambling in a gambling establishment.”

Estrada, Chew and Tam, who were not represented by lawyers, all pleaded guilty to the charge.
The first defendant, Hong Kong female Tse Kwok-wan, who allegedly managed the gambling establishment in a first-floor flat at 87 Woosung St., Yaumatei, did not appear in court.

According to the prosecution, Estrada and the three defendants were arrested during an anti-illegal gambling operation on Mar 25.

After a team of five officers rang the bell of the flat, Tse opened the door. Inside, the officers found Estrada, Chew and Tam sitting around a fish-hitting machine with game cards in front of them.

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The police said the three gambled on the video game machine using betting points that they bought beforehand, at $100 per 10,000 points. Tse used a card reader to issue points to the players’ game cards. Accumulated points won were later redeemed in cash. 

The prosecution said that $25,000 in cash was among the exhibits seized during the raid.

Tse who reportedly managed the den, also monitored the CCTV camera that was installed outside the flat. She was paid $800 per day and a 10% commission for point sales.
The prosecution said the establishment was owned by Catherine Hung and Wong Kwok-wun but that no case was brought against them.

When Estrada was asked by the magistrate if she had anything to say in mitigation, she said she was unemployed because she had a heart ailment. She added she was not in the raided flat to gamble.

“Then why did you plead guilty?” asked the magistrate.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

“I was there waiting for a friend who told me to wait there. I did not know that it was a gambling place,” she replied.

She said she pleaded guilty to the charge only because she was confused and sick.

Chan told her to sit at the gallery for awhile to think her plea over. But when the magistrate called her again, Estrada said she wanted to plead guilty and admitted she was at the establishment to gamble.

Chan ordered that half of Estrada’s $2,000 fine be offset by her bail.



Jobless Filipino admits shoplifting and using found bank card

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The stolen items came from Taste supermarket in Whampoa Garden (Google photo)

An unemployed Filipino has pleaded guilty to stealing about $900 worth of grocery items, and for using a bank card lost by its owner.

J. Rasco, 50, who is in police custody, appeared before Kowloon City Magistrate Ada Yim today, May 15.

Rasco admitted two charges of theft that took place between Oct 21, 2018 and Feb 2, 2019.
He was arrested by two patrolling police officers at about 10:20pm in Hung Hom on Feb 2 last year. At the time, Rasco was carrying two bulky grocery bags and acting furtively, drawing the attention of the officers.

The officers stopped him for a check and found the bags stuffed with various grocery items, including body lotion, chocolate bars, canned goods and coffee. The total value of the goods was $976.30.

Upon interrogation, Rasco admitted he stole the goods from Taste supermarket at Home World in Whampoa Garden. The vice manager of the shop later confirmed the goods were properties of Taste and had no sales record.
The officers also found in Rasco’s wallet a Dah Shing Bank Union Pay bank card that can be used to withdraw money and as an Octopus card. A check revealed that the bank card was lost by local female resident Chiu Chung-chung somewhere in To Kwa Wan, Kowloon, on Oct 21, 2018. 

During questioning by police, Rasco again admitted stealing the goods from Taste between 9:30pm and 10pm of Feb 3, 2019.

He also admitted to not being the owner of the card, saying “I just pick it up” and “I used it on the MTR twice.”

Police found out that the card’s Octopus account had a negative balance of $26. They also said the defendant had only $2 in his pocket at the time of his arrest.

The prosecutor said Rasco had three previous convictions for theft.

In mitigation, the defense lawyer said Rasco separated from his wife five years ago. He has four children aged 27, 25, 24 and 14.

He said his client, a former kitchen helper earning $4,000 a month, was remorseful and had pleaded guilty. He also said all the stolen items had been recovered.

Magistrate Yim set the sentencing for May 29 after receiving a drug addiction treatment report.  Vir B. Lumicao

Filipina faces new shoplifting charge on eve of sentencing for similar offense

Posted on No comments
By Vir B. Lumicao

The theft allegedly happened in this Wellcome branch in Shek Tong Tsui

A Filipina resident with a string of shoplifting convictions was charged in Eastern Court today, May 14, along with a British national, with stealing grocery items from a supermarket in Western District.

Sheryl Coronel, 46, appeared before Magistrate Bina Chainrai on the eve of her sentencing on May 15 in a Kowloon City court for a similar offense committed in March, the prosecution said.


Coronel and her co-defendant, Alexander O’Neill, 35, were jointly charged with one count of theft before Chainrai. No plea was taken.

The prosecution said O’Neill, a construction worker, and Coronel, jobless, walked into a Wellcome Supermarket on Jan 28 and stole two packs of coffee powder, a can of nuts and three boxes of facial masks with a total value of $557.70.

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The offense allegedly took place in the supermarket on the ground floor of Hau Fook Bldg on Queen’s Road West, Shek Tong Tsui. No other details of the case were disclosed.

Chainrai granted adjourned the case until July 9 for legal advice and to obtain a medical report on O’Neill.
The magistrate extended O’Neill’s bail, but raised the amount to $500 from $200. Coronel was remanded in custody.

The prosecutor opposed bail for the Filipina because she had a string of five convictions in recent months, four of them similar to her current case.

Pandemic put migrant helpers in worse situation, Mission study shows

Posted on 14 May 2020 No comments
By The SUN


Mission volunteers and clients showing off a donation of disinfectants to help in their anti-virus relief

Cases of migrant workers being made to work long hours and subjected to both physical and sexual abuses by their employers worsened in 2019, but Covid-19 has put them in a far worse situation.

This is according to the just-released 2019 service report of the Mission for Migrant Workers, which was supplemented with a survey on Covid-19 concerns covering the first quarter of 2020.

“MDWs are found more vulnerable to labor rights violations in the first quarter of (2020) due to the outbreak of Covid-19,” Mission general manager Cynthia Abdon-Tellez said in a statement accompanying the report.


The supplemental survey showed that for the period between early February to early March, nearly half, or 40% of migrant workers, had not left their employer’s house due to Covid-19.

In addition, 1 out of 5 or 20%, were not given their regular rest day.

The survey, which had 1,127 respondents, and was carried out with help from the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants and the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body, also showed that around 40,000 foreign domestic workers were not given a rest day for the entire month.

Mission volunteers with migrants out on their day-off, which 40% did not get to enjoy
Tellez said that the difficulties already faced by migrant domestic workers were magnified by Covid-19 outbreak.

“Panic and fear may have overwhelmed the people in the territory. This general disposition caused by Covid-19 resulted in the violation of the rights of some of these workers,” she said.

The problems were made worse by the scaled-back services by the Labour Department and the courts, which Tellez said, left many migrant workers with no access to grievance mechanisms.
The annual report itself, which surveyed a total of 5,023 FDWs who availed of the Mission’s services, showed that nearly all, or 96%, had complained of long working hours. Over half of them worked between 11 to 16 hours a day, and the others, even longer.

Another big concern was the lack of suitable accommodation, with 52% of the respondents saying they did not have their own room.

“This shows that suitable accommodation is still a serious concern. Besides, 29% of them complain about insufficient food provision,” Tellez said.

The Mission first highlighted the problem in a 2017 research, which gave details of extreme sleeping arrangements the workers had to live with.
“The problem of poor living conditions prevents MDWs from really resting in their employer’s home. This issue is magnified especially during the outbreak of Covid-19, where MDWs are advised to stay home during their rest day,” she added.

The Mission report also showed that nearly half, or 45% of the FDWs were made to work before taking their weekly day-off, while 21% had no regular one-day off in a week.

The report also suggested a drastic increase in physical or sexual abuses experienced by the respondents in the workplace, with 15% reporting of physical abuse, one and a half times more than in 2018.

Rape and sexual harassment made up 2% of the abuse cases, double the number from last year, the report said.

“The MFMW urges the Hong Kong government to abolish discriminatory restrictions and to provide protection and assistance addressing MDWs’ situation that have long been discussed. MDWs in Hong Kong should not be left unprotected,” Tellez said.
 
2 out of 3 helpers who seek help have work-related concerns

But the biggest number of cases handled by the Mission last year was labor-related.

Almost 70% of the helpers who sought help reported violations of their employment contract, premature termination and nonpayment of wages and benefits under the Employment Ordinance.

The number last year was 9% more than in 2018.

Another recurring concern is the overcharging by employment agencies. An overwhelming number, or 80%, complained of having been made to pay more than the 10% legal fee, when they applied for jobs in Hong Kong.

The MFMW assisted in claiming back these entitlements by providing information and guidance, shelter, and supporting their conciliation processor cases filed at the Labour Department and the Judiciary.

With the Mission’s help, distressed maids from the Philippines, Indonesia and other countries in Asia recovered $2,312,850 of their monetary claims last year. That was more than $300,000 bigger than the amount recovered in 2018, the NGO said.

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