So Ming Pan v. The Queen

Case No.CACC 577/1978

Court

Court of Appeal

Date30 Mar 1979

Judge—

Case Document

100%

CACC000577/1978

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL	Criminal Appeal
	1978 No. 577

BETWEEN
	SO MING PAN	Appellant
	AND
	THE QUEEN	Respondent

Coram: Briggs, CJ., Pickering, JA & McMullin, J.

Date of Judgment: 30 March 1979

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JUDGMENT

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1. The appellant was convicted by the High Court, sitting with a jury, of murder and was sentenced to death. We dismissed his appeal against conviction.

2. He also appealed out of time, with the leave of the Court, against his sentence. This was not opposed by the Crown. It appears that the question of the age of the appellant at the time of the commission of the murder was not fully investigated in the court below.

3. At the time of the murder the appellant was under the age of 18 years by a few months. The proper sentence upon conviction for murder in such a case is not a sentence of death, but an order under the provisions of section 70 of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance.

4. We therefore allowed the appeal of the appellant against sentence to the extent that the sentence of death is set aside and an order that the appellant be detained in safe custody in the prison in which he is now detained, until Her Majesty's pleasure be known be substituted therefor.

	Geoffrey Briggs
	(President)

Representation:

Miss J. Leong (D.L.A.) for appellant

Griffiths for Crown