HKSAR v. Ng Hoi Ming

CACC000046/1998

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF APPEAL

1998, No.46
(Criminal)

-------------------------------

Coram: Hon. Power, V.-P. and Stuart-Moore, J.A.

Date of Hearing: 1 April 1998

Date of Judgment: 1 April 1998

----------------------

J U D G M E N T

----------------------

Power, V.-P. (giving the judgment of the Court):

1. This applicant faced one charge of burglary and one of remaining in Hong Kong without authority. He pleaded guilty to those charges before Judge McMahon in the District Court and was sentenced to imprisonment for two years on the first and nine months on the second. He now seeks leave to appeal against those sentences.

2. The charge alleged that on 9th November 1997, he entered premises at Welcome Garden, No.39 Broadcast Drive and stole money, in different currencies, food stuff and household items. It seems that while he was in the course of ransacking the premises, the householder returned home and disturbed him. The householder raised the alarm and the Applicant was apprehended shortly thereafter. The Applicant admitted pushing open the window frame and entering the premises.

3. The trial judge said, given that it was a burglary at night, that he was taking a starting point of three years' imprisonment. He stated that, because of his plea and the fact that the major part of the stolen items were recovered, he was reducing that starting point to two years. He imposed a sentence of fifteen months on the second charge but ordered that six months of that sentence be concurrent with the two year sentence making an overall sentence of two years and nine months.

4. The applicant in his written grounds complains that that sentence was excessive. He says that he stole out of hunger initially but admits that he then also stole the money. He says he did not carry any weapon and that he pleaded guilty in the first instance. He asks us to bear in mind that his father is partially paralyzed and has only his wife to look after him. He asks us also to consider the contents of two letters written by his sister which make it plain that he is missed by his parents, particularly his mother, and asks that he be allowed to return home as soon as possible. While these matters enlist sympathy, they do not in any way cast doubt upon the correctness of the sentence. Indeed it was a lenient sentence.

5. The application is without merit. It is dismissed and we order that there by two months loss of time which means that two months of the time served between the filing of the Notice of Appeal and today will not count towards sentence.

Representation:

Mr. Wesley W.C. Wong, S.A.D.P.P. (Ag.) for D.P.P./Respondent

Applicant in person.