Posted by
elijules64
13 yrs ago
Hello,
My kid did something stupid ,he got into an argument with a Taxi driver (I will pass all details) and he robbed the driver cash box which did countain HK200.We had to go to the police station where they had all info,they said it was the first time so they would not open a case and they told us to call the taxi driver to negotiate something with him directly,but the Taxi driver is asking for HK20000...or he will go to court .I am not familiar with HK legal system but HK20000 seems like extreme to me and I doubt he would get this if we go to court.Anyone out there could give me some advice on this?well appreciated Thanks
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i think you are asking the wrong question. your real question should be:
if the taxi driver goes to court, will my son face a criminal penalty. that is what you want to avoid. anything else for the taxi driver will be peanuts (and certainly not 20k based on common sense - though i am no lawyer)
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thanks for you answer,but the police will not charge my son,they will not open any criminal record as it s the first time.So i guess it would be a civil matter,not sure.
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Firstly, your son is a fool. Do not believe him when he says it is his first time etc. Its just the first time he got caught. He should make it up to the driver who was doiung nothing else but his job.
If the dirver will not accept your son's attemp to make it up to the dirver, tell him to take it to court.
He won't get 20K through the courts, it will be his time he loses, and you know already the police are not interested. He will back down and will ask for a lot less. Just keep saying, "no, we go to court" unless he asks for something reasonable.
Tell him the 20k looks like extortion/blackmail and if he keeps asking for 20k you are going to the police. Don't offer anything, just let him come up with an offer you are willing to accept.
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The police won't charge your son so it's not a criminal case. So what are the causes of action that the driver can bring in a civil case? Even winning a case and going unrepresented in small claims court will take more time and effort than what the driver can make in that amount of time.
Figure out what actions he can bring in a civil case and calculate what your son would owe and offer it. In reality, aside from paying back the $200 he took, if the driver won't negotiate and you made a good faith offer, then you could drop it and see what happens. However, from a moral point of view, your son should pay some money or do volunteer work. And don't forget that even though the driver may be taking advantage of the situation, your son is in the wrong so hardballing the driver may not be the proper approach.
I can imagine that if some kid robbed me in my place of business during an argument, I would be quite upset that the police wouldn't press charges or at least make the offender do some volunteer work or pay a penalty. Good luck - it's not easy being a parent sometimes!
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190k
13 yrs ago
Your son committed the offence of Theft/Robbery depending on the circumstances. If the taxi driver want to pursue then a criminal case will be opened and investigated. nHowever, if your son is a minor (under 17 yrs) and he hass not been arrested for a crime before, he may be dealt with by way of a Superintendents Discretion. That is where he appears before the Police Officer in charge of the Police Staion and gets a dressing down. He will have a Police record for that but not a criminal record. It is important that for an SP's Discretion he shows serious remorse and promises to be a goog lad from there on in. Kids only get one SP's Discretion any further offences go to court. I hope the cash box has been returned without any loss.
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A late reply :
Try to negociate. My kid did the same stupid thing in a shop (130$ bottle of alcohol) and we had to go to court as the shop attendant pressed charges. Now my son has a criminal record (he was 16 and 2 months at hte time), we are not sure his hk dependant visa will be renewed and we spend 15 000 in lawyer fees. Moreover we had to face a probation officer who came home to enquire if we were not bad parents, we had to get interviewed, give details about our income, about our son's school records ...
So I hope you choose the payment option, I wished we had this choice.
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Kids will do stupid things. Don't go to court. Your kid will have a criminal or police record that will follow him/her for the rest of his life. Count yourself lucky if all the taxi driver wants money. Negotiate and pay up. Then get counseling for your kid... He obviously has issues wether drugs, alcohol, or anger. That is not an acceptable reaction to whatever went down. Show yourself and talk to driver, not your kid, then after it is all settle your kid should apologize. Good luck
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Perhaps seek a lawyers advice?
As for "Closcar" comment the shop attendant pressed charges whereas in this case the taxi driver is asking for money. Is there a difference?
If it was my kid, I would offer HK$1,000 as compensation and have this written on paper and presented to the taxi driver. If he rejects it then let him take you to court (small claim triunal) at least you have a written proof that you made a reasonable offer. The taxi driver is only interested in making a quick money, otherwise he be pressing charges.
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F100
13 yrs ago
Have you tried trying to find someone who is speaks Cantonese who can talk to this taxi driver. It is not just about the money, it's also a "face" thing as well.
If you could have a meeting and have your son appologize.
I'm sure there is lots of room for negotiation.
best of luck.
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190k
13 yrs ago
Paying someone offso he does not give evidence in a criminal matter is tantermount to "Peverting the course of justice" be careful it may come back and bite you
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Thanks for all your answers,regarding the last answer I am not Peverting anything...The police gave me the Taxi drivers number so I could pay him back what my kid took from him..Then the driver requested HK20000 in place of the 200HK my kid took..Just want to remind that Police did not and will not charge my kid,so there is no court case for now,unless the driver wants to go to Civil Claim tribunal.
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Its sad this has happened. Prepare to be billed anywhere in the region of 3k as legal fees if you took this to a lawyer.
Money Vs. legal hassles cum repute and records is a no-brainer. I know it hurts to part with so much cash, but God forbid this snowballs further. You'll most certainly regret not having settled this while you could.
If someone did that to me and apologized, I'd forgive knowing its only a kid who didn't know what he was doing. At the same time, if my kid did that, I'd hand over my hard earned money and ask my kid to take it to the driver. While painful, it would be a lesson not easily forgotten.
Parents invest so much (per month) on their kids future by sending them to private schools and coaching them in the best way possible - and hope that it will be beneficial in furthering their career and help them climb up in life. Suddenly sh*t happens. However, we can't and shouldn't allow it to ruin our the kids future and jeopardize our investment.
If negotiating does not reap better results - pay and move on. Its not too much - considering all that you spend on his future. All the best!
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Thanks Tradingpostasiaexpat,hk20000 is a lot for me and in regards to what was done ,it s looks more like extortion than justice rendered.
Thanks anyway
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it is extortion
I doubt if taxi driver will have initiative to take it further
I would have offered him an apology and 1000 HKD, take it or leave it.
if he does then he will have to spend time and money on a lawyer himself and the burden of proof would be on him that he was robbed since there is no police case/investigation yet.
regardless of taxi drivers greed it was very irresponsible behaviour on your son's part and had it been me i would have let my son cool his heels for a night in police lock up so he could have understood the gravity of taking someone's money by force, regardless of the situation.
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Its not the taxi driver who is on trial here. Your son has committed a crime i.e. he has robbed someone and need to pay for it. If I were the driver, I would press charges to ensure the arrogant and criminal behaviour is punished.
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Avoid court or Police Superintendents Discretion sort of thing, no matter how the outcome, it will leave a record. If I were you, I wouldn’t even consult a lawyer, what are they gonna say except that it is an extortion and you shouldn’t negotiate, blah blah blah…and you have to pay already for the consultation!! And in worst case scenario, should you found yourself in the court, there is no need to pay those ridiculous amount of money for a lawyer, your son will be found guilty anyway, be humble and admit you are in the wrong, show remorse and apologise. Judges are always more lenient especially when your son has no prior record and has a good family support.
Probably you can consider yourself lucky that the driver is willing to negotiate, however, I totally agreed 20K seems excess and the driver is taking you for a fool. Negotiate to bring the price down and close the case. I would say 2000 is more than enough, have something write up in English and Chinese and let the Driver consider, plus an apologies from your child. If he still insist on 20K, request that he puts it down in writing and you will consider, if the driver has some brain left, he won’t do it cause he knew he is extorting you (a crime) and so he knows you are not stupid…ask your Chinese friend for assistance for language barrier
I agreed 20K is a large sum of money and you shouldn’t just pay it without negotiate, let your son learn a lesson, the last you want to do is give your son an impression that anything/whatever he did wrong can be bought/settle by money from his parents.
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the superintendents discretion is a good scheme and is used by police to stop young kids getting criminal records when a good scare will suffice.
the taxi driver is also committing a criminal offence by offering to cover up or not report a crime for a payoff, so don't be too keen to pay up.
i'd suggest something more of a payment to account for the lost earnings when he was at the police station reporting your son's crime (that's what it was and how you deal with that is up to you, rather than follow all the advice here-he's your kid). i'm pretty sure he wouldn't have lost 20k in fares for the few hours he was at the station, so 2k would probably be nearer the mark.
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There is no way I'd be paying $20K. Total extortion. Visit a lawyer so you can understand what rights the taxi driver has in terms of a civil case. If you do pay anything more than the $200 taken, you'll want to make sure that it is documented properly so as to hold up in court should the taxi driver later bring a civil claim against your son in spite of you paying. I agree with the above, not sure what civil claim he would have in any event, in my mind it is theft which is a criminal claim only.
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vak
13 yrs ago
you need to be careful and take proper legal advise in this case. We once filed a civil case against someone who had taken a USD 25000 deposit and done a runner on a commercial shipment. It took 3 years for the police to finally arrest him as he had moved to China after doing this. Case went to court and after 12 months of hearings and 50 k in legal costs we were given 2 options by the judge since the guy claimed bankruptcy. The judge said it was a civil case and not a criminal case so he could let him go scot free as it had nothing to do with HKSAR. Alternatively he had to power to send the guy in prison for 60 days if our company paid the Govt HKD 180/day for costs. Our co went for the second option as they simply wanted the guy to have a prison record in case he tried to do it again. If was not a case of being vindictive but more of anger and frustration.A legal professional can give you advise as the 1st hour is usually free anyway.
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