HKSAR v. Li Suet Wan

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

(Appellate Jurisdiction)

MAGISTRACY APPEAL NO. 138 OF 1998

(On appeal from NKC 236 of 1998)

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Coram: The Honourable Mrs Justice V. Bokhary in Court

Date of Hearing: 26 March 1998

Date of Judgment: 26 March 1998

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J U D G M E N T

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1. This Appellant is a woman in her late 30's who appeared before R. Bruce McNair, Esquire in a Magistrate's Court sitting at North Kowloon on 13th January this year on one charge of remaining in Hong Kong without authority having landed unlawfully. She pleaded guilty on that day; and on 20th January this year, she was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment.

2. She now appeals against her sentence. Her general grounds of appeal are that her sentence is too severe. In court, she urged me to reduce her sentence saying that she wanted to go back to China to look after her mother who is ill. When it was pointed out to her that in mitigation on her behalf in the Magistrate's Court, her legal representatives told the Magistrate that her mother had died tragically, she said that there was a breakdown in communication between her and her legal representatives in that she had told them that it was her mother-in-law who had died and not her mother.

3. I am not persuaded of the genuineness of what she has told me in court.

4. In any event, the Magistrate after taking into account all mitigating factors and her personal circumstances, said this:

"5. Her personal circumstances, while naturally engendering sympathy, are not such as to justify departing from the guidelines of 15 months in prison for an early plea of guilty with a clear record. She has in fact been illegally working and earning a reasonable wage for some time now.

6. Notwithstanding there were no humanitarian reasons to depart from the tariff, I found it not wrong to exercise my discretion and I sentenced her to 12 months imprisonment. There was no reason to suspend the sentence."

5. The sentence of 12 months' imprisonment imposed was lower than the normal sentence for this kind of offence. It is not too severe at all; and I do not consider that there are any humanitarian grounds for me to reduce the sentence.

6. The appeal is dismissed.

Representation:

Mr Wesley W.C. Wong, Senior Government Counsel, for the Respondent.

Appellant, present in person.