A former acupuncturist has dodged more jail time and a criminal record but will have to pay a small fine for repeatedly running afoul of the law.
Sixty-three-year-old Xiao Hong Liu was facing numerous counts of trespassing at MUN, and disobeying other court orders.
Most of those conditions were imposed after the woman was stripped of her acupuncture licence four years ago, yet continued to practice.
Court heard the woman and her husband have been living in St. John’s since the mid-80s, when she established her practice of traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture.
But court also heard of subsequent mental health issues and a language barrier that led to misunderstandings of where she could go and what she could do, specifically when it came to MUN, where she was accused of trespassing more than 100 times.
Turns out, she was parking at the Arts and Culture Centre, which is technically on campus, in order to attend English language courses, which she felt was her right and trumped the court condition.
But she also ignored other court orders, such as not to leave the country, recently travelling to London, England, and breaking curfew.
She ended up serving a total of 15 days in jail for the breaches after each arrest.
Judge Lois Skanes said while Liu has showed little regard for the law, there was no violence involved, no previous criminal record, she pled guilty and her mental health remains a concern.
In the end, she imposed a fine of less than $100 for trespassing and granted an absolute discharge for the court breaches, avoiding a criminal record.
Skanes also questioned whether the restriction on Liu attending MUN was too broad, suggested the university clarify the parameters around it.