By Vir B. Lumicao
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| The Filipina's young wards were left unattended in Hang Hau MTR station for about 23 minutes |
A Filipina domestic helper who admitted leaving her year-old
baby ward and her sister, 9, in an MTR station in Tseung Kwan O in September to
steal chocolates in a nearby shop was jailed for a total of five months on Friday,
Dec 4.
Defendant Maritess B. Grospe, 38, bowed her head and sobbed as Kwun Tong Court Magistrate Bina Chainrai rejected the defense counsel’s appeal for a lenient sentence.
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The lawyer, citing a background report that Chainrai called for before sentencing the defendant, said the woman committed the crime because she was in debt paying off the medical expenses of her sick mother.
But the magistrate responded in anger. “She left the one-year-old child inside the MTR station to go and steal chocolates. How can that be correct?” Chainrai asked.
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The lawyer replied his client was remorseful for her action, saying she, in
fact, loves and cares for the baby boy and her 9-year-old sister. “She
understands that what she has done can’t be excused,” the lawyer added.
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Chainrai sentenced Grospe to two weeks in jail for stealing three packs of pistachio at a Best Mart 360 shop in MCP Discovery, Tseung Kwan O, and four weeks for taking many other items including 85 packs of chocolate and six packs of luncheon meat in a second BM 360 store at The Lane mall in Hang Hau, TKO.
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She ordered the two- and four-week sentences to run
concurrently. Then she imposed a four-month sentence on Grospe for leaving the
children in the station. This was to run consecutively with the theft sentence,
hence a total of four months and four weeks.
The prosecution said a staff in the BM380 shop at MCP Discovery noticed at 10:40am that three pistachio packs were gone from the shelves with no payment recorded.
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She checked the CCTV footage and saw the defendant taking the pistachios worth $504 on the morning of Sept 8, then left without paying. They reported the incident.
At 1pm on the same day, a staff in another BM380 shop at The Lane in Hang Hau noticed that several items were missing from the shelves without payment records.
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She checked the CCTV footage and saw the defendant take the items for the shelves, put them in her recycle bag and left without paying. The theft was reported.
The defendant returned to the store just as the police arrived and she was identified by the staff around 4pm. Police arrested her.
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During questioning, the police learned that the two children were left at the Hang Hau MTR station.
The police went to search for the children and found them at 4:15pm. They had been left unattended for about 23 minutes.
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