Read the full judgment text of CACC 341/2019 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 14 October 2020 before McWalters JA, Zervos JA.
Criminal law – sentencing – money laundering – conspiracy to deal with proceeds of an indictable offence contrary to s.25(1) and (3) of the Organised and Serious Crimes Ordinance (Cap 455) and s.159A and 159C of the Crimes Ordinance (Cap 200) – appellant agreed to process a single cheque of HK$1.1 million through her bank account for a promised reward of $10,000 – cheque rejected by bank – appellant withdrew from arrangement – whether immediate custodial sentence required – whether exceptional circumstances justified suspension of sentence under s.109B(1) of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance (Cap 221) – starting point for sentencing – whether judge erred in adopting too high a starting point – individual justice and rehabilitation as objects of sentencing – sentence moulded to the offender as well as to the category of the offence – HKSAR v Boma warning against rigid mathematical tariff approach – appellant aged 20 at time of offence, vulnerable, coerced by accomplice – appellant gave birth to son and turned life around after offence – no further involvement in fraud – no reward received – guilty plea – cumulative factors amounting to exceptional circumstances – appeal allowed – starting point reduced to 24 months – reduced by one third for guilty plea to 16 months – sentence suspended for two years – appellant had served 11 months entitling immediate release.
Legal issues: Whether exceptional circumstances justified suspension of sentence under s.109B(1) CPO · Whether the judge erred in adopting too high a starting point · Whether further deduction was warranted for post-offence rehabilitation
Outcome: Appeal against sentence allowed; sentence of the judge set aside and substituted with 16 months' imprisonment suspended for two years, with appellant ordered to be immediately released as she had already served 11 months.
Cited by 37 cases · Cites 2 cases