A woman who leapt to her death with her daughter in her arms last week was due to be sentenced at Tsuen Wan Court yesterday for shoplifting.
On May 17, Ivy Lam Po-yin, 32, was caught stealing a pack of frozen chicken worth HK$18 in Yat Tung Shopping Centre, Tung Chung.
She pleaded guilty to the charge on May 25. Magistrate Lambert Lee Ka-chai adjourned sentencing until yesterday for a probation report.
But on May 31, Lam held her four-year-old daughter Leung Ka-yee and leapt from their 17th-floor flat in Kui Yat House, Yat Tung Estate, Tung Chung. The child survived but was taken to Princess Margaret Hospital in critical condition with kidney damage and leg fractures.
The family of three lived with the aid of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance for about five years. Lam's husband, Leung Ka-ho, 28, who does odd jobs, has been unemployed for three months.
A security guard who was observing Lam in the supermarket saw her pay for two bottles of drink and a packet of biscuits but not for the chicken. When confronted by the security guard, Lam offered to pay but the guard refused. Lam later admitted to police that she stole the chicken out of momentary greed.