British father of death jump girl, 15, charged with helping ‘de facto’ Filipino wife overstay in Hong Kong, court hears

A British insurance executive faced charges for the first time since his undocumented 15-year-old daughter jumped to her death from a luxury Repulse Bay flat in early April.

Nicholas Cousins, 57, was charged on Wednesday with aiding and abetting his de facto wife's breach of condition of stay and failing to register the births of his two daughters, a court heard yesterday.

Prosecutors laid the three charges on Cousins, a former managing director of Jardine Lloyd Thompson's (JLT) Hong Kong branch, more than four months after his Filipino de facto wife, Herminia Garcia, 53, who is known as Grace, was charged with one count of breach of condition of stay.

Prosecutor Vincent Siu said, without giving reasons in Eastern Court, that the prosecution had decided to withdraw Garcia's second charge, of ill-treatment or neglect by those in charge of a child or young person.

The latest charges against the couple were combined into one case, Siu said.

According to the new charges, Garcia was limited in her stay in Hong Kong until November 7, 1994, but she was found in the city on April 7 this year.

Cousins, meanwhile, "aided, abetted, counselled or procured" Garcia's breach of condition of stay, the court heard. He also allegedly failed to register the births of his two daughters.

The couple, represented by barrister Giles Surman, did not enter any plea.

Principal Magistrate Bina Chainrai allowed the defence's application to adjourn the case until September 25 so lawyers could obtain documents from the prosecution.

Cousins was released on HK$10,000 bail, while Garcia paid HK$100,000 cash for bail and also secured HK$100,000 surety from a colleague of Cousins, Michael Wellsted.

The court heard there would be 10 witnesses. Chainrai reminded Cousins not to discuss the case with a JLT human resources officer who was on the witness list.

Following the hearing, a JLT spokesman announced Cousins had resigned as its managing director in Hong Kong, but would remain with the company.

"In view of the situation, Nick has decided to step down formally from his role as managing director of JLT Hong Kong with immediate effect," the spokesman said. "Nick will remain with the group and has our ongoing support while he focuses on his personal issues."

Wellsted and Anthony Langridge would continue to oversee JLT's Hong Kong operations until a new managing director was appointed, he added.

Outside court, defence lawyers said the charge of ill-treatment or neglect was dropped due to lack of evidence.

On April 9, Garcia's lawyer said in court that she had two daughters, aged 14 and 15, with Cousins, who was her "de facto husband".