2 June 2023
A Hong Kong resident was convicted at Sha Tin Magistrates' Courts with one count of misleading a member of the Immigration Service and one count of remaining in the restricted area of Hong Kong International Airport (Airport) without reasonable excuse, and sentenced to four weeks' imprisonment suspended for 24 months and a fine of $3,000 yesterday (June 1).
The 24-year-old female defendant entered the restricted area of the Airport as a departing passenger with a boarding pass to Bangkok, Thailand, on September 17 last year. A few hours after her scheduled flight departed Hong Kong, the subject claimed to a member of the Immigration Service that she missed her flight and requested a cancellation of her departure. As the explanation given by the defendant was suspicious, the Immigration Department (ImmD) began an investigation against the defendant.
Under caution, the defendant admitted that she pretended to be a departing passenger and entered the restricted area of the Airport, and remained in the restricted area to see off her friend. She had never planned to leave Hong Kong for Thailand. The defendant was convicted of one count of misleading a member of the Immigration Service and one count of remaining in the restricted area of the Airport without a reasonable excuse. The defendant pleaded guilty to the charges at Sha Tin Magistrates' Courts yesterday. She was sentenced to four weeks' imprisonment suspended for 24 months and a fine of $3,000 in total.
"Under the laws of Hong Kong, any person who commits the offence of misleading any member of the Immigration Service by making a false statement is liable to prosecution, and upon conviction to a maximum fine of $10,000 and imprisonment for six months. Moreover, under the Aviation Security Regulation, any person who enters and remains in restricted area, unless he/she has on his/her person a valid permit issued to him/her in respect of that restricted area or is being escorted by a permit holder who is authorised by the issuing authority to escort persons into such area, shall be guilty of an offence and liable, upon conviction, subject to the maximum penalty of fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for two years," an ImmD spokesman said.