Fine after helper forgot to pay for groceries

A Wellcome grocery

FOR failing to pay for about $200-worth of food items from a grocery store, a Filipino domestic helper was fined $2,000.

Shatin Magistrate Colin Wong Sze-cheung on Nov. 3 found L.T. Merogenia guilty of theft for taking on July 19, $199.3-worth of goods from a Wellcome supermarket on Tai Wai road.

The fine would be taken from the $5,000 bail that the defendant posted.

The court heard that the defendant took a pack of oatmeal, a pack of candied dates, a pack of blueberries, two packs of dumpling, one pack of cashew nuts, two packs of pork, one bottle of chili flakes, and put them in her black recyclable bag. She took the items, and left the store without paying for them.

As the defendant left the store, she was intercepted by a supermarket staff and was taken to the manager’s room.

When police officers arrived, the defendant did not say anything, but $40 cash and two Wellcome cash vouchers worth $100 each were found in her possession.

The defense said the helper forgot to pay for the items as she had many things in her mind at the time because she was worried about her son who was then ill.

The defense said  the defendant was running  errands that day for her employer, and as she had been to the wet market prior to the incident, she was unaware that she left the supermarket without paying for some of the items that she took.

Before going to the grocery store, the defendant bought some vegetables from the wet market and put them in a bag, and when she was in the supermarket she did not realize that she also put some other items in the bag and that she had not paid for them when she left the store.

In finding the defendant guilty, Judge Wong said there was no explanation given why the defendant put some of the items in her bag, and why she paid for some of the items that she took from the supermarket at the cashier.

He noted that the defendant paid for the two packs of fish balls that she took from the supermarket.

“She could have used a shopping cart or basket, but she put the items in her bag. There was no explanation why she paid for the two items, and nine items were unpaid,” Judge Wong said.

In mitigation, Merogenia’s duty lawyer said the defendant had a clear record, and she was supporting her son, sister, and mother in the Philippines.

“The defendant is taking care of the mother-in-law of her male employer, and four other additional family members,” the duty lawyer added.

The defendant, who was seen crying while the magistrate was giving his verdict, was accompanied in court by her male employer.

Considering the value of the goods that was stolen, and that the defendant had a clear record, Judge Wong said he was imposing a $2,000-fine.