Cheung Man-kwai v. The Queen
Read the full judgment text of CACC 376/1981 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment.
1. On the 28th January, 1981 in the early afternoon, you were behaving yourself disgracefully to one of two girl participants in the orienteeing team competition in the Tai Tam Reservoir area. Your conduct was all the more revolting because you were then serving as a forest guard. Not only did you conduct yourself miserably you made your vulgar pleasure known to the victim soon thereafter by wearing a smile which could best be described as being from ear to ear.
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CACC000376/1981
Coram: Liu, J. in Court Date of Judgment: 27th May, 1981 ----------------- JUDGMENT ----------------- 1. On the 28th January, 1981 in the early afternoon, you were behaving yourself disgracefully to one of two girl participants in the orienteeing team competition in the Tai Tam Reservoir area. Your conduct was all the more revolting because you were then serving as a forest guard. Not only did you conduct yourself miserably you made your vulgar pleasure known to the victim soon thereafter by wearing a smile which could best be described as being from ear to ear. 2. The girl retaliated by nudging you in the stomach. You did not accept the retaliation in good humour as you should have, considering your despicable action. You grabbed the girl by her neck. It caused considerable alarm. The joint effort of the two girls landed you in a ditch. 3. You were previously otherwise of good character. You had a clear record when you appeared before the learned Magistrate. The case was contested to its conclusion, and you were found guilty of a charge of indecent assault as well as this charge of common assault. For common assault, you were sent to prison for a term of 4 months. The learned Magistrate took into consideration all the matters advanced on your behalf at the conclusion of the proceedings which have been ably reventilated before this court by your Counsel this morning. Your conduct is obviously unforgivable and cannot be lightly condoned. 4. The learned Magistrate described this case as the most serious case of common assault. That observation has been criticised as inaccurate in the circumstances of the case. Various decisions have been drawn to the attention of this Court, but each case must be judged on its own merits. This may not be the worst type of common assault, but you were in uniform and on duty and your lack of restraint on that occasion is a matter not to be overlooked. In all the circumstances, and as I have been told that you had been in detention from the 27th March until bail was granted to you on the 29th April, justice may best be served by allowing your appeal but only to the extent of substituting your sentence by a sentence of such a duration as to match your time in custody. Therefore, your appeal against sentence is allowed, the sentence of 4 months be set aside but substituted by a sentence of imprisonment for a term equivalent to your period of detention i.e. for a month and two days. You must not leave this Court under the wrong impression that your offence was anything other than serious. I sincerely hope that a good lesson has been learnt from your past experience in this episode.
Representation: Mr. Walter Lau instructed by Michael Cheuk & Co. for Appellant Mr. F. Whitehouse Counsel for Respondent |