Tse Chun Ho v. The Queen
Read the full judgment text of CACC 362/1976 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment.
1. This case arose out of a series of alleged blackmails of boat owners. The Appellant was charged with having gone on board a number of vessels and demanded money from the occupants. In several cases he received money. The charges were blackmail and theft.
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CACC000362/1976
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----------------- Coram: Huggins, J.A. Date of Judgment: 28th April 1976. ----------------- JUDGMENT ----------------- 1. This case arose out of a series of alleged blackmails of boat owners. The Appellant was charged with having gone on board a number of vessels and demanded money from the occupants. In several cases he received money. The charges were blackmail and theft. 2. The evidence in each instance was on the brief side, but apart from Charge G I think there was just enough evidence to justify conviction. There is no doubt that money was demanded and the magistrate was satisfied that there was no just cause for the demand. The question really is whether there was sufficient evidence of menace. As to the G Charge I do not think there was: all that Chan Sam said was that at 10 p.m. the Appellant came and said, "Old man, give me a hundred odd dollars" and, when her husband said that he had no money, he said "Give me a watch". The husband said he could not give the watch and told the Appellant to go away. That appears to have been the end of the incident, and I think it is going too far to infer menaces. 3. The appeal against conviction on that charge will be allowed and the sentence set aside but the appeal against conviction will be dismissed in respect of the other charges and I am satisfied that a total of three years' imprisonment for the other offences was amply justified: this type of offence, as the magistrate said, is rampant and it must be dealt with severely. The appeals against sentence are dismissed. 28th April 1976. Representation: |