Three workers at the Cape Collinson Crematorium were jailed yesterday for nine to 18 months for stealing jewellery and other valuables from corpses, in offences a judge said were an insult to the dignity of the dead. Wong Chi-sum, 37, who was convicted of four counts of theft, was jailed for 18 months while co-accused Lee Kim-wah, 46, and ex-worker Lam Chi-keung, 75, were each jailed for nine months. A fourth worker, Siu Yat-heung, 50, will be sentenced on April 24 because a psychological report on him was not ready yesterday. District Court judge Derek Pang Wai-cheong said the offences, carried out over a nine-year period, would inevitably cast a cloud over the cremation business. 'Opening coffins and stealing items from inside seriously damages the dignity of the deceased and it is very disrespectful,' the judge said. 'This kind of theft is more serious than picking up items from the refuse collection point at the crematorium . . . it certainly undermines the confidence of deceased's relatives.' Judge Pang said the defendants, who denied all charges, had shown little remorse despite knowing what they had done was 'dishonest and greedy'. He said the items were not of great value, but this did not reduce the workers' dishonesty. Two other employees, Ko Yee-chiu, 52, and Yan Kwok-yin, 38, were acquitted of conspiracy to defraud on March 12. Crematorium foreman Lau Tat-ho, 49, was earlier cleared of two counts of soliciting and accepting advantages. Those convicted stole items removed from corpses between November 1991 and October 1999, including gold rings, shoes, watches, coins, coffin handles, a Chinese musical instrument and clothes. The matter came to light after another worker, Li Pui-yui, who gave evidence for the prosecution, reported the thefts to a newspaper in October 1999. The court ordered the stolen items be confiscated and kept by the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Senior investigator Remus Lau Tin-hing said the ICAC would seek legal advice on whether to return the items to the families of the dead if the owners could be identified. But he said doing so might present practical difficulties as the relatives were unwilling to talk about the matter. He said security at the crematorium had been tightened. 'The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has installed a closed-circuit television system and now the families of the deceased can see the coffin being cremated,' Mr Lau said.