Lo Kwai Lung v. The Queen

CACC000353/1971

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF HONG KONG

(APPELLATE JURISDICTION)

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 353 OF 1971

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Coram: Huggins, J.

Date of Judgment: 15th July, 1971.

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JUDGMENT

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1. The Appellant pleaded guilty to two offences of theft and was sentenced to 6 months' and 12 months' imprisonment respectively, those sentences to run consecutively.

2. The circumstances were that on 11th May the Appellant snatched a lady's handbag in the street but was seen by a patrol of detectives who arrested him. Later the same day, under caution, he admitted a similar offence on 4th May. That case had been reported to the police but there was nothing apart from his confession to convict him of it.

3. In assessing sentence the learned Magistrate appears to have distinguished between the two offences by reason of the fact that the second offence was committed on a staircase and not in the open street.

4. The Appellant had previous convictions, though none for this type of offence. He had been on probation upon his first conviction, on two counts of larcenies of bicycles, and three years later was sent to a Training Centre. Since then he has been to prison several times. The only ground he advances for a reduction of sentence is that he wishes to re-inter the bones of his mother. I confess that had I been dealing with this case at first instance I would probably have imposed the heavier sentence for the offence for which he was arrested at the scene and a lighter sentence for that which could not be proved against him but for his free confession. However, the question that I ask myself is whether the sentences as a whole are undeserved and I cannot think that they are. The appeal is dismissed.

15th July, 1971.

Representation: