Filipina helper in HK loses appeal in stolen photo case

HONG KONG - There is renewed outrage here when a Filipina domestic helper was put back in jail after losing a High Court appeal Wednesday against her theft conviction for taking three pictures and a sealed letter of her former employer, popular singer Jacky Cheung. Preslyn Catacutan, 30, from Dumaguete City, managed to have her original sentence of six months imprisonment cut only by half. That meant she had to go back to jail for a few more days, since she had already served time before she was allowed to post bail pending her appeal. Judge Verina Bokhary’s decision left many in the court room in shock, including 93-year-old former Hong Kong legislator Elsie Tu, who had stood by Catacutan throughout her ordeal. “This is unbelievable!," said Tu after the decision was read out. “This is what I mean when I say the law works against justice." "Do people realize that this is like sending Preslyn to life imprisonment? Because if she is convicted of these charges, she will not be able to work in Hong Kong again? This is not just a sentence against her, but against her entire family because she is a breadwinner." Catacutan is married with three children. Consul General Alejandrino A. Vicente also expressed regret over the decision, after being briefed by his officers. “The Consulate has always stood by her, so we are saddened by this development. As I have said in the past, we believe in her (Catacutan’s) explanation on why she had the three photographs." Several people who sat through the hearing called the decision “harsh" and asked if the case could be elevated to the Court of Final Appeal. A few were in tears. Catacutan had been in Cheung’s employ for about four months when she was sacked on August 27 last year. A search of her belongings yielded a sealed letter addressed to Cheung from the management office of his residential building. Cheung and his wife immediately called the police, and Catacutan was taken to the police station for questioning. There, she was found with three pictures stuffed in her jeans’ pockets: two group pictures of Cheung and his wife, and a passport photo of Mrs Cheung. Testifying during her trial, Catacutan said she found the two group pictures lying on the floor in the Cheung couple’s bedroom. She said she picked up the passport photo from a rubbish bin in the same room. She maintained the Cheungs had seen the pictures on display in the maids’ room for some time, and had said nothing about them. As for the letter, Catacutan said she had inadvertently put it inside one of her bags about a month before it was found in her possession. At that time, the Cheungs’ home was being renovated and that she, along with three other helpers in the household, was under strict orders to keep the letters away from the workmen. But during his testimony, Cheung denied seeing the photos in the maids’ room, and said he never consented to Catacutan keeping them. He also talked of being told by his other helpers of Catacutan’s alleged misdeeds, like tampering with his family’s computer and stealing their photos. In finding Catacutan guilty, the magistrate in the lower court gave more credence to Cheung’s evidence. Magistrate Winston Leung also said he was imposing a deterrent sentence because the court must protect celebrities "from abuse by servants." But his statement that Catacutan had the “trappings of a spy" was deemed “disturbing" by Judge Bokhary, who said “the magistrate had an exaggerated view of the appellant’s (Catacutan’s) role." Not having any evidence before her on which to calculate the worth of the photos and the letter, Judge Bokhary said she would “do the best I can" and ordered the sentence halved for each count of theft, to be served concurrently. She also said she was convinced that the magistrate had the so-called “test of dishonesty" on his mind when he convicted Catacutan of the theft charges. Catacutan’s lawyer, Edward Acton-Bond, had argued that his client could not be convicted if the said test were applied in her case. He also said there could be no conviction on the charges because the theft was supposed to have been committed between June and the middle of August last year, but the photos and the letter were found in Catacutan’s possession only on August 27. Judge Bokhary said she was not persuaded that the charges should have been amended first. - The Sun, HK