Tang Chu @ Cheung Kwok Leung v. The Queen
Read the full judgment text of CACC 1003/1975 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment.
1. The appellant was convicted of possession of an offensive weapon and escape from lawful custody and was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment consecutively upon each of those two charges. At the same time a suspended sentence of twelve months' imprisonment for membership of a triad society was activated so that his total sentence amounted to thirty months' imprisonment. He appeals against those sentences.
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CACC001003/1975 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF HONG KONG (APPELLATE JURISDICTION) CRININAL APPEAL NO. 1003 OF 1975 -----------------
Coram: Pickering, J. Date of Judgment: 21st November 1975. ----------------- JUDGMENT ----------------- 1. The appellant was convicted of possession of an offensive weapon and escape from lawful custody and was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment consecutively upon each of those two charges. At the same time a suspended sentence of twelve months' imprisonment for membership of a triad society was activated so that his total sentence amounted to thirty months' imprisonment. He appeals against those sentences. 2. There is no merit in the appeal against the sentence for escape from lawful custody nor in that for activation of the suspended sentence for triad membership. However, the offensive weapon found in the appellant's pocket was described at the hearing as "part of scissors". The scissors were not available for my inspection as they should have been and I was reduced to asking the appellant what this description "part of scissors" meant. He told me that the weapon was a pair of scissors with a broken blade. 3. After pleading guilty to this charge in the court below the appellant agreed the facts related to the court including the fact that when questioned as to why he carried the scissors he said that he intended to steal something with their help. The phrase "to steal" in that connection is ambiguous. It might have meant that he intended to use the broken scissors in the course of robbery or that he intended to use them as an instrument for breaking in. Either explanation would be consistent with his record which includes a conviction for robbery with violence and another for theft from a motor-car. Giving him the benefit of the doubt as to the gravity of his actual purpose, and because the weapon was a relatively innocuous one in comparison with those frequently produced before the courts, I allowed the appeal against his sentence upon the charge of possession of an offensive weapon, set aside the sentence of nine months' imprisonment and substituted it with one of six months. Representation: Appellant in person. C.W. Reid, C.C. for Respondent. |