A Filipino domestic helper in Hong Kong was fined after she came out of a supermarket without paying at the cashier for goods she tool.
In a report by Hong Kong News, Sha Tin Magistrate Ho Chun-yiu on February 16 found Teresita P.S. guilty of theft and ordered her to pay a fine of HK$1,500 (P9,102) for taking away without paying items from the supermarket in Ma On Shan in October 13, 2015. The woman took carrots, lemon, apples, coconut milk, talcum powder, yogurt, jelly, and chewing gum worth HK$117.20.
The maid claimed she had to go out immediately because she saw a fellow helper who owed her a HK$1,000 loan.
However, judge Ho did not buy her argument and said her claims were were “incredible and illogical.”
“The defendant was not in a hurry at all. The CCTV footage showed that she was walking and leaving in a leisurely manner,” Ho said.
The defense lawyer, barrister Sebastian Hughes, earlier cited that Teresita had enough money to pay for the goods.