Former domestic helper jailed for leaving toddler alone in a Hong Kong park
A former domestic helper has been jailed for more than 15 months for child neglect and illegally taking employment in Hong Kong after a toddler placed in her care was found alone in a park last year.
Advertisement
West Kowloon Court on Thursday sentenced the woman, only identified as Khotijah, 43, who earlier admitted neglecting a two-year-old girl entrusted to her as a babysitter in June 2024.
The court heard the girl's 31-year-old mother first approached the Indonesian defendant via a man known as John in May last year and offered to pay her HK$300 per day for looking after the child.
The mother, only identified in court by her acronym TCK, said she would ask Khotijah for help from time to time, the last being on June 21, when she paid the former helper HK$1,500 in exchange for taking care of her toddler for five days.
But the accused left the girl with John six days later, complaining she was unable to bear the toddler's living expenses with what the mother gave her.
Advertisement
The girl was found wandering around a playground at Sai Yee Street in Mong Kok alone on the evening of June 28.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
HKFP
39 minutes ago
- HKFP
Anti-corruption watchdog charges ex-lecturer who allegedly solicited HK$20,000 bribe from student
A former part-time lecturer at the Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong has been charged by the city's anti-corruption watchdog over alleged bribery. The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) charged Tony Ng Shui-ting, 68, with one count of agent accepting an advantage on Monday, according to a Tuesday ICAC press release. 'The charge alleges that on December 10, 2024, the defendant accepted HK$20,000 from a student for securing a passing grade for the student's final year project,' the ICAC said. At the time, Ng was responsible for supervising final year projects for the Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Civil Engineering programme at the vocational college in Chai Wan. 'Promised to give a passing grade' 'The ICAC had received a corruption complaint alleging that the defendant, starting from November 2024, had told the student on various occasions that he would not give a passing grade to the student in regard of the final year project. The defendant subsequently solicited a bribe from the student and promised to give a passing grade to the student's final year project,' the press release said. Those who are convicted of contravening section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance face a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment and a fine of HK$500,000. Ng was released on bail and will appear at Eastern Magistrates' Courts on Wednesday.
HKFP
a day ago
- HKFP
Mainland Chinese man arrested for allegedly igniting fireworks in Hong Kong
Hong Kong police have arrested a mainland Chinese man for allegedly igniting fireworks at the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade. A 21-year-old man, surnamed Shi, was apprehended in Tsim Sha Tsui on Monday on suspicion of possessing and igniting fireworks and firecrackers. He is currently detained by police for investigation. Police said on Monday evening that the arrest was made after a viral video, which began circulating on social media platform Threads on Sunday, appeared to show a man igniting a firework stick at the promenade near Salisbury Road. The man told the person holding the camera to 'stop filming' in Mandarin as he hurriedly left the promenade. Another video, also shared on Sunday, showed fireworks being discharged at the promenade for a few seconds. Fireworks and firecrackers are classified as dangerous goods in the city, police said on Monday. Under the Dangerous Goods Ordinance, it is a criminal offence to manufacture, store, transport, or use any dangerous goods without a relevant licence. Anyone found guilty of the offence can face up to six months in prison and a maximum fine of HK$25,000.
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- South China Morning Post
More must be done in Hong Kong's cybercrime campaign
Far too many companies in Hong Kong have left themselves vulnerable to cyberattacks, according to a new police review that should warn all operators to immediately step up their game. Regular security checks are required by law for private firms with infrastructure deemed 'critical' for the normal functioning of society. The rules in place since March apply to an undisclosed list of players in sectors such as energy, information technology, banking, communications, maritime, healthcare and transport. Advertisement Police recently found that about 5 per cent of publicly accessible technology assets owned by such operators were vulnerable to online attacks. A first-of-its-kind review turned up loopholes in 4,500 out of 90,000 pieces of technology assets examined. The force also revealed that it had received over 440,000 pieces of intelligence on cyberthreats targeting the city last year. Hacking cases have been rising, with losses surging over the past two years. Greater diligence is required. Regulated firms have more than just a fear of hackers to prompt better security. Under the law, they may be fined up to HK$5 million for failing to keep their systems up to date. The companies are also now obliged to notify authorities of any breach within 12 hours. It is encouraging that police have quickly carried out an initial review. They found 495 assets at critical or high risk with issues such as staff login credentials exposed, unused subdomains that risk being taken over by hackers, or cloud services exposed to external access. Raymond Lam Cheuk-ho, chief superintendent of the cybersecurity and technology crime bureau, said if those 'critical or high-risk loopholes' were exploited, serious disruptions would be 'extremely likely'. Advertisement Companies involved have already taken steps to remedy loopholes discovered in the survey, but it is worrying that cyberattacks exploited obvious vulnerabilities such as insufficient monitoring of remote access computers, outdated security software, or poor cyberthreat response policies.
