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| Filipina was arrested at dawn in this neighborhood. |
A Filipina domestic helper who had been sleeping in a park in Sham Shui Po for two months after her employer terminated her contract, pleaded guilty to overstaying when she appeared today at the West Kowloon Court.
But F. Lacaba, 35 years old, pleaded not guilty
to the theft of an Octopus card containing $70 in value, saying she had just
picked it up and was intending to return it to the nearby MTR station that
morning.
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| PRESS FOR DETAILS |
Magistrate Jason Wan thus withheld her sentence for the
first offense and scheduled a trial on the second case for Jan. 22, so that he
could hand down his decision on the two cases at the same time.
Magistrate Wan was responding to a request by Lacaba’s duty lawyer for the earliest
possible trial date because she had been in detention for almost two months,
which may exceed the prescribed punishment for a theft of $70 -- assuming she
is found guilty.
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| I-CLICK DITO! |
Lacaba was arrested at 5:03 am last Nov. 23 after she was
spotted by a police officer on patrol on Yu Chao St., Sham Shui Po.
When the officers found a personalized Octopus card in
another person’s name among her possessions, they arrested her and took her to
the nearby police station.
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| TAWAG NA! |
During investigation, Lacaba said she had just found the
Octopus card and was intending to return it to the Sham Shui Po MTR station,
but it was still closed.
Police contacted the owner who said the cash value was
intact, showing that she never used the card.
Lacaba was working as a domestic
helper whose contract started on April 15, 2023. However, her employer terminated
her on Sept. 24, 2023, or five months after she started working.
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| PINDUTIN |
She was unable to find a new employer within the two weeks she
was allowed to stay on, and had been sleeping at a park at night until she was
arrested.
Her lawyer said she did not apply for bail because she had
nowhere to stay.
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| PADALA NA! |
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