"Cabin rat" sentenced to 16 months in prison for stealing on flights

已複製連結

A mainland Chinese man stole jewelry worth more than $42,000 on a flight from Dubai to Hong Kong in July last year, and was sentenced to 16 months’ imprisonment.

The 48-year-old defendant was earlier convicted at the District Court of the offence of committing disorderly conduct on an aircraft.

Judge Josiah Lam noted that the defendant worked as a casual laborer in the mainland, earning a monthly salary of $3,000. However, between March 2023 and July 2025, he had taken 68 flights, and within a single month he repeatedly visited certain places. The judge described this as “unusual” and did not accept his claim that he committed the offence out of momentary greed. The judge considered it clear that he was a professional “cabin rat” (a serial thief who targets aircraft cabins), and that the crime was premeditated and planned—specifically targeting passengers on long-haul flights. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison.