A secondary school pupil who stole another pupil’s wallet while the two were sitting their Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education exams earlier this year was given a probation order on Wednesday.
Ho Cheng-man, 18, who had pleaded guilty to theft, was given a year’s probation order at the Shatin Magistrates’ Court.
The court heard that Ho suffered from hyperactivity disorder. Her father had passed away and her mother was on social security assistance. She did not have a job and would be starting a Project Yi Jin continuing education course later.
“The sentence is lenient as this is your first offence, but the crime is serious as compared with shoplifting,” Principal Magistrate Andrew Ma Hon-cheung told Ho.
The court heard that during the HKDSE’s English listening and integrated skills exam on March 31, Ho, who was at the examination centre in Baptist Lui Ming Choi Secondary School in Shatin, stole the wallet of a boy sitting in front of her from under his chair.
She shifted the wallet towards her with her foot and knelt down to pick it up while the exam papers were being collected.