A handbag thief who hid in an MTR tunnel for eight hours to escape police, shutting the Island Line for an hour, has been jailed for seven months.
Eastern Court magistrate Ian Candy told print worker Wong Sing-on, 25, he should feel ashamed of himself and said his crime was the result of gambling.
Mr Candy jailed Wong for six months yesterday for the theft charge and two months for resisting arrest, with a month of the latter to be served consecutively to the first.
Wong's defence barrister told the court his client, who pleaded guilty to both charges, had debts of $150,000.
The defendant snatched Wong Hau-kam's Prada handbag on April 5 in the Provident Centre in North Point.
He later phoned her and asked her to leave $2,000 in a rubbish bin in return for her bag.