HKSAR v. Liu Jinchang

HCCC 187/2017

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 187 OF 2017

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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case

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COURT:

The defendant Mr Liu Jinchang, pleaded guilty to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm during the committal stage. The offence is contrary to common law and punishable under section 39 of the Offences against the Person Ordinance, Chapter 212.

The particulars of offence are that the defendant on the 8th day of November 2016, at a flat at Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, in Hong Kong, assaulted X, thereby occasioning her actual bodily harm.

He is committed to this court for sentencing.

Facts Admitted

At about 0645 hours on 8 November 2016, the defendant entered the flat of X at Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, and they had a dispute. The defendant became emotional and slapped the face of X with a fruit knife, with a blade of about 20 cm long, with force. X felt dizzy. A report was made to the police.

At about 0120 hours on 9 November 2016, the defendant was arrested by the police. Under caution, he said, “I threatened her with a knife out of momentary anger. She said she wanted to break up with me so I patted her face once with the knife.” In a subsequent video-recorded interview, the defendant made similar admissions.

At about 0345 hours on 9 November 2016, X was examined by a forensic pathologist who noted, inter alia, a patch of abrasions of an area of 2.5 cm times 2.1 cm on lower left cheek of X and a shallow oblique cut of 3.4 cm long.

Criminal Record

The defendant has a clear criminal record.

Mitigation

The defendant is aged 49. He was born in China and received education up to Primary 2. Counsel for the defendant points out that this sort of case is normally dealt with in the magistrates’ court and there are no sentencing guidelines.

The defendant had an ongoing relationship with X and the dispute arose because the defendant found X inside her flat with a man. They talked about their relationship and the defendant committed the offence out of momentary anger. The defendant admitted everything to the police and is remorseful. He has no history of violence and is unlikely to repeat the offence. He has a clear record in both Hong Kong and China.

According to the counsel for the defence, the defendant is married for 22 years and is in the process of divorce with his wife. They have two daughters who are students and they live under the same roof. The defendant is a bar bender earning $30,000 a month whilst the wife is a sales lady. The defendant is still supporting them. The counsel for the defendant submits to the court certificates showing that the defendant had completed a bar bending course offered by the Construction Industry Council and was the best trainee in the course. The counsel points out that the defendant had been in custody for about two months after arrest. He asks the court to impose a sentence on the defendant so that he will not be required to go to prison again.

Sentence

The maximum sentence for the offence of assault occasioning actual bodily harm is 3 years imprisonment and, as rightly pointed out by the counsel for the defendant, there are no sentencing guidelines and each case will depend on its individual facts and circumstances. The defendant used a knife to slap the face of X. This was extremely dangerous because it could have caused much more serious injuries to X and might even disfigure her. In fact, X did suffer a cut on her face though fortunately a shallow one. The defendant being an adult should know how to solve dispute in a love affair in a peaceful manner. Using of violence in such circumstances is to be discouraged in the clearest terms.

Considering the whole circumstances of the case, the court adopts a starting point of 9 months imprisonment. Giving credit to the defendant for his plea of guilty and clear record, the court sentences him to 5 months imprisonment.