A senior policewoman is 'ill-fitted to remain in the force' and could face dismissal after refusing to remove light brown highlights from her hair, a disciplinary hearing has decided.
The internal inquiry ordered that Senior Inspector Sharon Lim Shiow-hwa, 35, be given a reprimand after she was found guilty of disobeying an order in refusing to dye her hair back to its natural mid-brown colour.
Her case has been referred to Police Commissioner Tsang Yam-pui, who will now decide whether to impose a more severe penalty.
Inspector Lim was charged after police rules were introduced in January 2001 that decreed hair should be both 'neat and tidily trimmed and in its natural or original colour'.
The inquiry heard that in December 2001 - nearly a year later - Inspector Lim, then based in Mongkok, fell foul of the new edict even though her highlights pre-dated its introduction.
Inspector Lim declined to comment yesterday until her case is resolved, but a friend recalled that she had always coloured her mid-brown hair since joining the force in 1987.