Nick Cousins leaves Eastern Court on Wednesday, April 8.The teenager whose sister died from a fall on Tuesday was reunited with her father yesterday after she had spent a night in a children's home. Authorities discovered the two girls, 15 and 14 years old, had no documentation and had never attended school in Hong Kong.
Their father, Briton Nick Cousins, and mother, Filipino Herminia Garcia were arrested on the day of the older girl's death as Garcia appeared have overstayed her visa by about 20 years. Cousins, a 58-year-old British insurance executive, was released and Garcia appeared in court and was released on bail today.
Garcia has been charged with overstaying in Hong Kong and the ill treatment of a child. Magistrate So Wai-tuk took into consideration her need to prepare for the funeral of her daughter when granting her bail.
On Tuesday, the older girl locked herself in the bathroom of their 19th-floor flat at 3 Repulse Bay. As her parents tried to unlock the door, she fell out of the window. Police say there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding her death.
Her sister, 14, was taken into care for the night at a children's home in Tuen Mun. Cousins and his daughter appeared in a juvenile court at Eastern Magistracy yesterday, the girl smiling as they held hands.
Both girls had been born in Matilda International Hospital, in 1999 and 2000. Hospital staff say they had notified government authorities of the girls' births.
The sisters had never attended a regular school, instead they had been educated at a private tutorial centre. However, like most Hong Kong teenagers, they were active socially and on social media.
Garcia will be back in court on June 4.