Addict stole money and false teeth
Thief escaped by telling neighbour he was looking for house owner's son
An unemployed drug addict broke into a house twice in one day and stole 346 lai see packets, containing $3,671, and a set of false teeth, a court heard yesterday.
Ng Chi-ming, 35, escaped suspicion the first time by claiming he was looking for the owner's son nicknamed 'Big Pineapple', the District Court was told.
Prosecutor Stewart Hau told the court that Ng prised open the ground-floor door of the house on December 30 about 7pm, making enough noise to alert neighbour Ma Shui-kin.
Ng knew the entire family was away attending a birthday banquet in Tsim Sha Tsui, defence lawyer Johnny Wong Chi-keung said.
Mr Ma telephoned Chan Chi-wai, a ground-floor tenant of the two-storey house at the fishermen's village in Tui Min Hoi, Sai Kung.
Mr Chan, who was away from the house, returned and found Ng just as he was leaving.
Mr Chan questioned Ng, who claimed that he was looking for Tai Po Lo - 'Big Pineapple' - giving the impression he was a friend of the family.
That was the nickname of Ng Shu-man, son of the house owner, Ng Chuen-sing, 78.
The house owner, Mr Ng, was with his family at a Tsim Sha Tsui restaurant to celebrate his wife's 78th birthday, the police said outside the court.
Mr Ng's son lived on the first floor with his parents, while Mr Ng's daughter, Ng Lai-fun, occupied a ground-floor room.
Mr Chan noticed the ground floor of the house had been ransacked.
But since Mr Chan concluded that nothing was missing, he did not report the incident to the police, Mr Hau said.
Ng Chi-ming returned three hours later that same day, breaking into the first floor by dismantling a window lattice.
He opened a cabinet drawer and stole various items, including $7,696.10 in cash, 346 lai see packets containing $3,671, a set of dentures and copies of three birth certificates. When he heard the noise of a break-in a second time, Mr Ma telephoned Mr Chan again. Mr Chan arrived with a friend, Wong Chun-ming, to find Ng standing near a window on the first floor.
Mr Wong and fellow villagers prevented Ng from escaping. Police arrived, arrested Ng and recovered the stolen items from his shoulder bag.
Ng told police he needed money to feed his drug habit.
Ng pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary, and Judge Alan Wright jailed him for 21/2 years.
'It is actually misleading to call burglary simply a property crime,' the judge said.
'There is in fact a real threat to the occupants of the premises, and constitutes an additional violation of a person's personal space.'
