The Queen v. Pak Kwan Ho
Read the full judgment text of HCMA 81/1996 on BabelCite. This High Court CFI judgment was delivered on 15 February 1996.
1. This was an appeal against a conviction for speeding. The method of assessing the speed of the appellant's vehicle was by the use of the frozen speedometer on a police motor cycle. The appellant's speed was assessed at 114km/hr. In the course of the appeal, I was advised that when dealing with radar speed checks, the police invariably make a 10% allowance for error. This matter was not considered in this case. It seemed to me that the learned Magistrate ought to have made an allowance for err
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HCMA000081/1996 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF HONG KONG (Appellate Jurisdiction) MAGISTRACY APPEAL NO.81 OF 1996 --------------------
-------------------- Coram : Hon Duffy, J. in Court Date of hearing : 9 February 1996 Date of handing down judgment : 15 February 1996 ------------------------- J U D G M E N T ------------------------- 1. This was an appeal against a conviction for speeding. The method of assessing the speed of the appellant's vehicle was by the use of the frozen speedometer on a police motor cycle. The appellant's speed was assessed at 114km/hr. In the course of the appeal, I was advised that when dealing with radar speed checks, the police invariably make a 10% allowance for error. This matter was not considered in this case. It seemed to me that the learned Magistrate ought to have made an allowance for error of at least 5% in this case. She did not do so. Had she done so, she could have found that the appellant's speed was less than 110km/hr. That would have meant that the appellant's speed could be assessed between 15 and 30km/hr more than the speed limit. That speeding offence attracts a three rather than a five points penalty. I therefore allowed the appeal, and substituted the finding that the appellant was driving at a speed 15 to 30km/hr in excess of the speed limit. 2. Because of that, I also felt it right to remove the order for costs. I therefore allowed the appellant to appeal against sentence out of time and removed the order for costs. Representation: Mr Wesley W.C. Wong, S.C.C., for Crown Appellant (Pak Kwan Ho) in person
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