Jackson fan, 72, stole special disc
An unemployed and elderly fan of Michael Jackson who could not keep her hands off the late star's special edition CD in a Mong Kok store was fined HK$2,000 for stealing a copy.
Choi Wai-ying, 72, pleaded guilty at Kwun Tong Court yesterday to taking a copy of the special Jackson album Bad from the store last month.
A lawyer defending Choi told Acting Principal Magistrate Amanda Woodcock that the defendant had liked Jackson. Choi was ordered to pay a HK$2,000 fine for stealing the CD, which she could have bought for just HK$98.
She stole the disc from Wide Sight Entertainment on the ground floor of a building in Sai Yeung Choi Street South.
At about 1pm on July 19, a staff member at the shop spotted Choi holding the CD furtively in front of a display shelf. He then saw her place the disc into her handbag, pass by the cashier and leave the store without paying.
The staff member stopped Choi at the exit from the store and recovered the disc. He called the police and reported the case.
After an officer arrived and arrested her, Choi confessed that she had stolen the disc. She was subsequently charged with theft.
Choi depends on money that her late husband left her for her expenses and does not work. She had no previous criminal convictions.
Jackson, 50, was pronounced dead on June 25 at the UCLA Medical Centre after collapsing at his rented mansion in Los Angeles.
