Sergeant stealing condoms argued that he has fear of embarrassment
Source and credit: wenweipo
translated by cici at AsianEU

station sergeant Ng chun-king stole condom (Ng chun-king=motorcycle passenger)


The station sergeant in responsible for arranging the transmission of Olympic torch relay in Hong Kong, suspected to have stolen a box of condoms in Mannings and a packet of chocolate, to which the prosecution said the defendant said the following after he was stopped, "I'm sorry, I am also a police, please don't call the cops otherwise this will turn big!". The defendant later explained to the police because of embarrassment when buying condoms, he temporarily put the condoms in a paper bag, but he was thinking too hard on the Hong Kong Olympic torch relay transfer arrangements that he forgot to make the payment before he leaves the shop.

The accused Ng chun-king(aged 46) at the time the crime took place, he was a Traffic Sergeant stationed at West Kowloon Station working as an escort in team 3 commanding in the Olympic torch relay in Hong Kong. Charge alleged that the defendant stole a box Okamoto condoms, and a bag of Movenpick chocolate on the evening of April 30 this year in the Grand Century Place in Mannings at Mong Kok. This case was tried in Kowloon City Magistrates Court yesterday, and deputy magistrate Hui Chun-Sing determined all evidence point to defendant so he was convicted for theft.

The defendant plea: I am one of you

Prosecution summoned a security guard surnamed Chen working in Mannings to give evidence, and Chen said that he suspected defendant and watched him carefully because he had a light paperbag at the time he entered into the store. Chen found the defendant putting an unpaid box of condoms into the paper bag through the "fish glasses," , stopping before the candy shelves for about 10 seconds before he stepped out of the store. Chen rushed to stop the defendant and defendant revealed his identity, imploring, "I'm sorry, I am one of you(as in I am also a cop), Do not call the police otherwise this will turn big!" Later, Mannings' manager called the police, and police officers came to arrest the accused.

The defence lawyer repeatedly questioned Chen's evidence, also pointing out that when Chen stopped the defendant, the defendant did not reveal his identity to police officers, who only said, "Oops, excuse me, I was in a trance of thoughts, and didn't know I step out of the store, let me pay you back". When defence lawyer questioned whether Mannings reward security guard prize money if a thief is caught, the witness(aka security guard) strongly denied.

Yesterday the defence summoned Senior Inspector surnamed Chik as defendant's character witness, and Chik was defendant's supervisor in the police escort team in charge of arrangements for the Olympic torch route of transmission in Hong Kong at the time defendant committed his crime. In March and April this year, the defendant and Chik regularly participated in government departments meetings, and they discussed information for intersection of the torchbearers, public order and to collate the information to higher management, during which the defendant was responsible for the selection and training of his team members, and was in charge of delegating individual tasks to his team members often working overtime.

The day of the crime was exactly the first day the Olympic torch arrive in Hong Kong. The police escorted the flame from the airport to Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui. At 5:00 p.m. after the completion of the ceremony, the defendant still needed to prepare for May 2nd torch relay, so he stayed until 8:30pm before leaving the police station taking non-sensitive information with him to work at home. However, after the incident, the defendant's duties have been handled by two other sergeants.

Work as Traffic Sergeant at the West Kowloon Station
Inspector Chik supported that the defendant doing things seriously, committed to work. Also pointed out that the police escort team have regular contact with sensitive information, those handled information must pass character inspection and the defendant can successfully passed the test, so it is believed that the defendant is honest, but Chik isn't familiar with defendant's private life.

Note: Case hasn't finished in trial, will continue tomorrow