Read the full judgment text of CACC 000174/2003 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 6 August 2003 before Stuart-Moore Ag CJHC and Woo JA.
Criminal law – robbery – sentence – starting point for unarmed robbery – guilty plea discount – appeal out of time – two applicants jointly charged with robbery and separately with unlawfully remaining in Hong Kong – applicants and two other males robbed a middle-aged couple near Lion Rock, taking HK$180 cash and a wristwatch – Newton Inquiry resolved in applicants' favour on whether a knife was used – whether starting point of five years' imprisonment for robbery was appropriate when no weapon was used – Mo Kwong-sang guidelines apply to armed robbery only – starting point for unarmed robbery should be lower – aggravating feature of multiple robbers but not robbery on hikers as a special category – whether full one-third discount for guilty plea should be applied – plea on first day of trial is generally timely – previous not-guilty indication on wrong identification does not, by itself, justify reduction of discount – applicants' pleas did not require victims to attend unnecessarily – leave to appeal out of time granted – starting point reduced to 4 years – one-third discount applied – sentence reduced from 5 years to 32 months for robbery – overall sentence 3 years 11 months.
Legal issues: Starting point for unarmed robbery involving multiple perpetrators · Entitlement to full one-third discount for guilty plea entered on first day of trial
Outcome: Leave to appeal out of time granted; appeals allowed; sentences on robbery charge reduced from 5 years to 32 months for each applicant; sentence on unlawfully remaining charge unchanged.
Cited by 49 cases · Cites 2 cases