Read the full judgment text of CACC 000317/1993 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 1 September 1994 before Silke, Acting C.J., Wong and Leonard, JJ..
Criminal law – armed robbery – possession of firearms – two armed robberies of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Company in Central, Hong Kong, on 26 October 1991 and 12 March 1992 – stolen property valued at approximately HK$20 million and HK$12 million respectively – shots fired at police and at members of the public – security guard taken hostage – D1 Ng Yuk Ming and D2 Chau Sai Ming pleaded guilty to various counts – D3 Tsang Tin Hei convicted after trial on the second robbery and related firearms count – Whether D3's conviction was unsafe on grounds of alleged trial judge interference with cross-examination, late disclosure of an accomplice's cautioned statement and criticisms of the summing-up – Whether D1's sentence was excessive having regard to his substantial cooperation with the prosecution, including giving evidence and being a named witness in the trial of Yip – Whether D2's sentence was excessive relative to the roles played by D1, D2, D3 and the co-accused Yip – Whether D3's out-of-time application for leave to appeal against sentence should be granted – cooperation by a guilty accused as a material mitigating factor warranting tangible discount to encourage such conduct – differential sentencing reflecting the relative roles of co-offenders – out-of-time applications scrutinised for merit before indulgence granted – D3's application for leave to appeal conviction refused – D3's out-of-time application for leave to appeal sentence refused – D1's appeal against sentence allowed to the extent that count 1 reduced from 12 to 11 years and count 5 made fully concurrent, reducing total sentence from 25 to 19 years – D2's appeal against sentence allowed to the extent that count 1 reduced from 12 to 9 years, reducing total sentence from 28 to 25 years – D3's total sentence of 20 years' imprisonment upheld.
Legal issues: Safety of D3's conviction in light of alleged trial judge interference with cross-examination, late disclosure and summing-up criticisms · Whether D1 Ng Yuk Ming's sentence was excessive having regard to his substantial cooperation with the prosecution · Whether D2 Chau Sai Ming's sentence was excessive relative to the roles of co-offenders
Outcome: D3's application for leave to appeal against conviction refused; D3's out-of-time application for leave to appeal against sentence refused; D1's and D2's applications for leave to appeal against sentence granted, appeals allowed to the extent indicated. D1's total sentence reduced from 25 years to 19 years. D2's total sentence reduced from 28 years to 25 years. D3's total sentence of 20 years upheld.