A hapless thief made too many mistakes, so it took only a short time for the police to find him and recover what was stolen.
In late 2022, a local man who was having financial difficulties because of gambling decided to commit a crime. He decided to rob someone on the street to make easy money, but his plans were not destined to come true.
He targeted nurse Tseung Kwan Oh who was returning home from her night shift. He attacked her from behind, took her purse and watch, and then tried to escape. All this was noticed by a random passerby, who began to pursue the thief, causing him to lose his wallet.
The attacker was not caught immediately, but thanks to the documents found in the wallet, it took the police less than an hour to find the kidnapper. It turned out that he lived 500 meters from the place of the attack, so the officers came to him almost immediately, and surprisingly, the offender was at home.
All of the woman’s stolen items were found on the way to the house, as the thief threw away the evidence to remain unpunished. Spoiler alert: he failed to do so.
During questioning by police, it became known that the 34-year-old local man had several serious debts because of his gambling addiction, which prompted him to commit the crime. The purse he stole from the nurse contained approximately $500, which hardly helped the assailant much in fixing his financial situation.
It is known that the detainee will be tried, and as a result of the trial (in theory), he can get even life imprisonment as the punishment for theft in Hong Kong is rather severe. However, it is unlikely that the judge will impose capital punishment, so most likely, the bitter criminal will get away with a few years in prison.
Note that gambling in Hong Kong is also strictly prohibited. The government has approved only certain types of racing, betting on soccer, and several online lotteries. All this reinforces the underground gambling market, which is growing rapidly despite the harsh penalties. Most likely, the thief fell for the no deposit signup casino bonuses that abound on the Internet and began to gamble despite the strictest ban.
Only from October to December 2022, the Hong Kong police arrested more than 1600 members of the triad involved in the organization of gambling. Some of them were quite high up in the gang hierarchy, thanks to which they were able to provide valuable testimony. In addition, during the World Cup, 789 people were arrested for organizing sports betting online or in underground clubs.