A 42-year-old government employee was given 12 months’ probation this morning after admitting he stolen a colleague’s breast milk from the office fridge and refilled the bottles with cow’s milk.
Yiu Ming-kin, a telecommunications officer at the Office of the Communications Authority, pleaded guilty to the theft, and was handed the sentence at Eastern Magistrates’ Court.
According to online outlet hk01, the defense said Yiu had learned his lesson, was ashamed of his actions (as we would hope), and apologized for his behavior. They also cited a psychological report which stated that Yiu’s chance of reoffending was very low.
The defense also said that Yiu had support from his family, girlfriend, his boss, and his colleagues.
Yiu’s father earlier said that his son’s strange behavior came about because Yiu has a gambling addiction and had accumulated a debt of about HK$300,000, Apple Daily reported. How exactly those things are connected to stealing breast milk, we can’t say, though it seems to have played well with the court.
The saga began in July when a 26 year-old female employee at OFCA called police to say that two bottles of her breast milk had been stolen and refilled with what appeared to be cow’s milk. After authorities arrived on the scene, Yiu confessed that he was the culprit and was arrested for theft.
The theft was “strongly condemned” by the Hong Kong Breastfeeding Mothers’ Association, who reminded nursing mothers to be cautious when storing breast milk, and to lock it up in containers if necessary.
Last year, a married 37 year-old IT technician and father-of-two was ordered to perform 200 hours of community service after admitting to stealing a colleague’s breast milk, drinking it and sending unsolicited dick picks because “he was stressed”.
