Filipino mother of girl who fell to her death caused ‘unnecessary suffering’
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 09 April, 2015, 12:21pm
UPDATED : Friday, 10 April, 2015, 2:00am
Stuart Lau [email protected]
Nick Cousins and Herminia Garcia leave Eastern Court. Photo: Felix Wong
A Filipino woman whose undocumented 15-year-old daughter jumped to her death from a luxury flat in Repulse Bay on Tuesday was released on bail yesterday after hearing prosecution claims that she had caused "unnecessary suffering" to a child.
Herminia Garcia, 53, known as Grace to friends, entered no plea in Eastern Court to one charge each of overstaying and ill treatment of a child, a 14-year-old who was referred to as "X" to protect her identity.
Garcia wept in the dock as her lawyer, Christopher Morley, applied for bail.
She had two daughters, aged 14 and 15, with Nick Cousins, a British insurance executive whom her lawyer told the court was her "de facto husband".
Cousins, 58, watched the proceedings from the public gallery accompanied by his boss, Jardine Lloyd Thompson's Asia executive chairman Anthony Langridge.
Magistrate So Wai-tak, granting bail, said he had taken into account Garcia's need to attend the funeral service of her elder daughter and the fact that she had made Hong Kong her home for 20 years.
Herminia Garcia did not enter a plea. Photo: Felix Wong
Garcia paid HK$100,000 cash for bail and also secured HK$100,000 surety from a colleague of Cousins, Michael Wellsted. She has to report to Aberdeen police station three times a week and cannot leave the city.
Cousins took Garcia's hand as they walked out of the court building in the afternoon. They did not speak to reporters.
The couple were arrested on the day their elder daughter committed suicide. Cousins secured police bail on the same day and must report back to police later this month. He has not been charged so far.
The girl's death in the early hours of Tuesday led police to uncover Garcia's overstaying and the lack of birth documentation for the two girls.
Garcia, who identified herself as a housewife, is accused of wilfully causing "X", who was in her "custody, charge or care", to be ill treated or neglected in a manner "likely to cause [the child] unnecessary suffering".
The court documents did not give details about "X".
Garcia told the court through a Tagalog interpreter that she understood the charges. She will return to court on June 4.
