Wong Chun Kwok and Others v. The Queen
Read the full judgment text of CACC 1066/1977 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment.
1. The three appellants, at the time of the commission of the offence, were members of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force. They were found guilty of one offence of blackmail and were sentenced to five years' imprisonment each. They appealed both against their conviction and their sentences.
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CACC001066/1977
Coram: Briggs, C.J., Pickering, J.A. and Zimmern, J. Date of Judgment: 20th March, 1978. ----------------- JUDGMENT ----------------- 1. The three appellants, at the time of the commission of the offence, were members of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force. They were found guilty of one offence of blackmail and were sentenced to five years' imprisonment each. They appealed both against their conviction and their sentences. 2. Each of the appellants has a good record in the police force, is young and of course has not been in trouble before. 3. It is unnecessary to go into the facts except to say that the three appellants were members of a patrol who blackmailed the victim into parting with $1,600. This was a single offence. There is no suggestion in the record that it was part of a course of conduct. 4. Our attention was drawn to the case of Leung Hoi v. The Queen(1). The appellant there was sentenced to four years' imprisonment in respect of four charges of blackmail committed in circumstances almost identical with those in the present case. 5. There is no doubt that the present case was a serious case and one demanding condign punishment but we think, in the circumstances that a sentence of five years' imprisonment was manifestly excessive and that justice would best be done if the sentence of each of the appellants is reduced to three years' imprisonment and we so order.
Representation: Jackson-Lipkin, Q.C. & J. Kwong (K.Y. Woo & Co.) for 1st Appellant Sedgwick (H.H.Lau & Co.) for 2nd & 3rd Appellants Edwards for Respondent/Crown (1) (1973) H.K.L.R. 238. |