Ng Chun Kong v. The Queen

CACC000311/1971

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF HONG KONG

(APPELLATE JURISDICTION)

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 311 OF 1971

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Coram: Huggins, J.

Date of Judgment: 29th June, 1971.

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JUDGMENT

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1. The Appellant appeals against a sentence of 12 months' imprisonment imposed upon him for burglary. He was stopped by a party of police at about 10.30 at night because he was acting in a suspicious manner. He was searched and found to be carrying a radio set wrapped in newspaper. He thereupon admitted that he had broken into a house in Portland Street at about 9.40 or 10.00 o'clock. Having forced open the door he stole the radio from the flat. He further admitted that on a previous occasion in March he had snatched a pair of gold earrings from a Chinese woman in the street and he asked that that offence be taken into consideration. That case had been reported but the property could not be recovered. The victim was a 71-year-old woman.

2. The Appellant has been before the court on numerous occasions in the past. He has been placed on probation and has been bound over to be of good behaviour without success. He was convicted on three separate occasions in 1970 and on two of those occasions he was convicted of two offences and on the other occasion of eight offences. The Appellant seems to think that the present sentence was very severe. Even accepting that he was indeed co-operative with the police, in my view, if this sentence erred at all, it erred on the side of leniency. The burglary charge involved breaking into somebody's flat and people must be protected in the enjoyment of their homes. Moreover, I think the Appellant was perhaps lucky that the police decided to allow him to have the charge of theft merely taken into consideration, for it was a particularly mean and despicable offence.

3. There is no substance in this appeal and it is dismissed.

29th June, 1971.

Representation: