Read the full judgment text of DCCC 8/2020 on BabelCite. This District Court judgment was delivered on 28 September 2020 before 陳廣池.
Criminal law – wounding with intent – sentencing – group attack with weapons – severity of injury – public place – starting point – absence of sentencing guidelines – no discount for trial conviction – previous convictions. The defendant was convicted after trial of one count of wounding with intent arising from an incident on 5 June 2019 in the early morning, when he led a group of 4-5 armed persons to a public park to attack the first prosecution witness (surnamed Lo), causing a near-detached nose and serious injury with lasting after-effects. Held, determining sentence: there are no sentencing guidelines for wounding with intent, and the court is not bound to use 3 years as a minimum sentence (following 特區 訴 黃祿壽 [2013] 2 HKLRD 194). Aggravating factors were the defendant being the main perpetrator, the group nature of the attack, the public location with over 10 bystanders, the victim being caught off guard, and the severity of the injury with lasting effects; mitigating was the absence of intent to kill or permanently disable the victim. A starting point of 3 years was adopted. As the defendant was convicted after trial without a guilty plea, no discount applied. Final sentence: 3 years' imprisonment.
Legal issues: Appropriate starting point and final sentence for wounding with intent
Outcome: Defendant sentenced to 3 years' imprisonment for wounding with intent.
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