Director of Hong Kong property firm 'stole HK$12 cloth'
He was headed to the toilet when halted by cashier, trial told
A director of The Link Management told a psychiatrist he was heading to the bathroom when he was accused of stealing a HK$12 cleaning cloth for glasses, Eastern Court heard yesterday.
Poon Kai-tik claimed he was looking at his digital diary as he went to answer a call of nature at the Aeon department store in North Point on April 7 last year, according to forensic psychiatrist Dr Bonnie Siu Wei-man. He was stopped by a cashier as he walked out of the shop, in the basement of the Metropole Building on King's Road.
Poon, who subsequently quit the real estate investment trust in September, denies one count of theft.
Siu, a witness for the prosecution, said that following a teary interview session with the defendant in November, she determined Poon had an adjustment disorder - a condition related to stress - at the time of the alleged crime.
However, she told the court the condition had not been serious enough to blame for the alleged incident.
Poon, who headed The Link's government and community engagement department, also told Siu that in days leading up to April 7 he had bought a larger cloth from another Aeon store in Causeway Bay. He said he had been looking for the receipt to exchange it.