Read the full judgment text of CACC 000228/2003 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 9 October 2003 before Cheung JA, Tong J.
Criminal law – sentencing – sexual offences – unlawful sexual intercourse with girl under 16 contrary to s.124(1) Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 200) – buggery with girl under 21 contrary to s.118D Crimes Ordinance – applicant aged 34, victim daughter of his business partner known since childhood – first intercourse when victim was 15 years 8 months, buggery two months after her 16th birthday – sexual acts recorded on videotape found in applicant's car – applicant pleaded guilty – whether starting points for individual offences and total sentence manifestly excessive – whether sentences should be served consecutively – role of guilty plea discount of one-third – public policy of protecting the vulnerable from those who take advantage of long-standing relationships – distinction between offenders close in age and older offenders in position of trust – aggravating factors of significant age gap, abuse of familial-type relationship, and recording of sexual acts on video – starting point for s.124(1) reduced from 2.5 years to 2 years – starting point for s.118D reduced from 5 years to 4 years – total pre-discount sentence reduced from 7 years to 6 years – total post-discount sentence reduced from 56 months to 48 months (4 years) to be served consecutively – appeal allowed.
Legal issues: Appropriate starting point for s.124(1) unlawful sexual intercourse with girl under 16 · Appropriate starting point for s.118D buggery with girl under 21 · Appropriate total sentence and consecutive/concurrent ordering
Outcome: Appeal against sentence allowed; both individual starting points and the total sentence reduced.
Cited by 20 cases · Cites 2 cases