A former assistant principal in an elite Hong Kong secondary school has avoided a criminal conviction for stealing more than HK$3,000 (US$380) worth of food and drinks from a supermarket last year, and has been given a bind-over order instead.

Eastern Court Principal Magistrate David Cheung Chi-wai on Monday sentenced Ng Ka-yun, 47, to be bound over for 36 months with a payment of HK$2,000.

“The defendant should treasure this chance,” he said. “The bind-over period is 36 months as the amount [stolen] was quite high.”

Ng was formerly the assistant vice principal of St Paul’s College, an elite boys’ school in the Mid-Levels.

A spokesman for the school said on Monday that Ng had already left the post.

Ng was charged with one count of theft for stealing HK$3,561.40 worth of goods from the supermarket section of Sogo department store in Causeway Bay on October 11 last year.