Read the full judgment text of DCCC 857-875, 877-884, 886-889, 891 & 893/2020 on BabelCite. This District Court judgment was delivered on 13 December 2021 before HH Judge A. J. Woodcock.
Criminal law – public order – unauthorised assembly – incitement – sentencing – COVID-19 pandemic – Police ban under Public Order Ordinance (Cap 245) – freedom of assembly under Basic Law and Bill of Rights – deterrent and punitive custodial sentence – aggravating role of well-known public or political figures – aggravating factor of offending while on court bail for similar offences – suspended sentence no longer appropriate – totality principle – concurrent sentences – late guilty plea – discount of approximately 20% following HKSAR v Ngo Van Nam – whether pandemic context warrants custodial sentence for unauthorised assembly – whether suspended sentence appropriate where defendant on bail for similar offences – whether sentences should run concurrently to existing sentences for 2019 public order offences – whether a deterrent custodial sentence was appropriate because approximately 20,000 people defied a Police Letter of Objection and gathered on closed football pitches in Victoria Park on 4 June 2020 to commemorate the June 4 incident during the COVID-19 pandemic – D1, D3, D7, D10, D13, D17, D19 sentenced to immediate custodial terms ranging from 4 months 2 weeks to 14 months – D1 and D4 sentenced concurrently with existing sentences for 2019 offences – D1: 14 months concurrent total – D3: 12 months concurrent total – D4: 13 months concurrent with existing sentences – D7: 9 months concurrent total – D10: 9 months concurrent total – D13: 12 months concurrent total – D17: 4 months 2 weeks – D19: 6 months.
Legal issues: Appropriate sentence for unauthorised assembly offences committed during the COVID-19 pandemic · Whether suspended sentence remains appropriate where defendant committed offence while on court bail · Application of totality principle and concurrent sentencing · Plea discount for late guilty pleas
Outcome: All 8 remaining defendants were sentenced to immediate custodial terms. The 5 who pleaded guilty (D1, D3, D7, D10, D17) received a discount of approximately 20% on the starting points; the 3 convicted after trial (D4, D13, D19) received no discount.
Cited by 35 cases · Cites 4 cases