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December 02, 2015

Mainland woman fined for stealing life jacket from Cathay flight

The 64-year-old woman admitted before the Tsuen Wan magistrate that she stole the life jacket as a souvenir. Photos: Bloomberg, GovHK

A magistrate slapped a fine of HK$2,000 (US$258) on a mainland traveler after she pleaded guilty to the charge of stealing a life jacket from a Cathay Pacific flight.

The 64-year-old woman, surnamed He, fainted when she arrived at the Tsuen Wan Magistrates’ Court and was taken to hospital before she returned later and admitted she had taken the life jacket as a souvenir, Headline Daily reported.

The court heard that He arrived in Hong Kong from Taipei on a Cathay flight on Monday.

While she was going to her connecting flight to Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi province, airport security personnel spotted a life jacket during an X-ray check of her luggage and arrested her.

Magistrate Cheang Kei-hong said the defendant was being greedy, noting that her action would leave the aircraft one life jacket short in case of an emergency.

He said she only had NT$100 (US$3.06) and 20 yuan (US$3.13) on her, but the magistrate ruled that she should either pay the fine or face a seven-day imprisonment.

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