HKSAR v. Fung Kin Ping

[English Translation - 英譯本]
DCCC 547/2014

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO 547 OF 2014

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REASONS FOR SENTENCE

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Background

1.The defendant committed the offence of taking conveyance without authority in September 2013. She was convicted of the offence in October 2014 after she had pleaded guilty of the offence and admitted the facts before me. Since the defendant was also involved in other matters at the time and reports were to be obtained, sentencing for the above offence was adjourned to 17^th December the same year.  Having considered the relevant facts of the case, the defendant’s background and mitigation submitted on her behalf, I found that there existed aggravating circumstances in the case and a term of imprisonment is an obvious option for sentencing. Nevertheless, I decided to make an exception and sentence the defendant to serve 200 hours of community service as an alternative to imprisonment so as to give the defendant an opportunity to turn over a new leaf after taking into account the young age of her child and the fact that the father of the child was serving a prison term at the time. Please refer to the reasons for sentence dated the 17^th of December 2014 for details.

2.Today, the defendant was brought up before me again because a written declaration was made by a Probation Officer on the 10^th of March 2015 whereby information had been laid that the defendant had disappeared without a trace after serving only 1 hour and 5 minutes of the community service order. The Probation Department had tried various means to contact the defendant in respect of this matter but was in vain. As a consequence, the Probation Department applied to a magistrate for a warrant of arrest of the defendant so as to commit the defendant to the court as soon as possible. Eventually, the defendant was arrested by the police on 9^th September 2016 and was remanded in custody until today.

3.Today, Mr Tam, representing the defendant, made a submission before me that the defendant was deeply remorseful. It was further submitted that she was more mature than before and would no longer use emotional issues as an excuse to cover the mistakes she had made. Mr Tam also submitted a mitigation letter written by the defendant the gist of which was asking the court to give her another opportunity to start her life anew. Besides, Mr Tam told the court that the defendant admitted that she had disappeared after serving only 1 hour and 5 minutes of the community service order and the Probation Department had tried every means to contact her without success.

Sentence and Reasons

4.I am satisfied that the defendant had failed to comply with the community service order. The order was made on 17^th of December 2014 and was effective for 12 months. If the order is still valid, I now revoke the order pursuant to Section 8 (4)(b) of the Community Service Order, Chapter 378, the Laws of Hong Kong and re-sentence the defendant in accordance with the above provision. Having reconsidered the facts of the case, the attitude of the defendant in admitting the offence and her personal background (including the reports which have been obtained previously); and also having considered the 1 hour and 5 minutes community service she has performed under the now revoked community service order, the recent mitigation letter and mitigation submissions, I shall adopt 3 weeks’ imprisonment as the starting point for the offence of this case and reduce it by ⅓ to reflect the defendant’s guilty plea. The defendant is sentenced to 2 weeks’ imprisonment.

Translated by the Judgment Translation Unit of the Judiciary and vetted by Mr. Patrick W.S. Cheung, Barrister-at-law.