A 20-year-old woman was found guilty of two counts of theft and sent to a rehabilitation centre by the Shatin Magistrate Court on Wednesday.
The defendant, Carla Chau, had posed as a medical student from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) when she volunteered at an emergency station during last year’s pro-democracy Occupy protests.
Chau subsequently volunteered at a CUHK event last May in which she ran electrocardiogram (ECG) tests on a thousand senior citizens. During the event, she stole an ECG machine and an iPad mini, worth HK$5,550 in total.
In July she was also found to have stolen a medical ward pass from the Prince of Wales Hospital. During their investigation, police found that she was not a student at CUHK.
Chau earlier admitted to two counts of theft. The counsel for the defence said that the defendant had committed theft in order to keep up her act and maintain the friendship she made during the protests, admitting that this behaviour was foolish.
Although the probationary officer did not recommend probation, the lawyer argued for alternatives to incarceration that could help the defendant back on the right track.
Magistrate Jolie Chao Tsz-kwan was reportedly shocked to discover that the defendant was a counselling student: “How can she do counselling? She’s not even ready herself,” she commented, according to Ming Pao.
The magistrate pointed out that the defendant had been involved in another theft case last October, in which she stole cash from her employer. During her probation, she became pregnant whilst engaging in compensated dating.
The magistrate said that the defendant needed professional help and sent her to a rehabilitation centre.
