HKSAR v. Liu Sumalee Alias Hongchaikham Sumalee

HCMA 348/2007

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

MAGISTRACY APPEAL NO. 348 OF 2007

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Before: Hon Wright J in Court

Date of Hearing: 1 June 2007

Date of Judgment: 1 June 2007

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JUDGMENT

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1.The appellant was convicted on 12 March 2007 by the magistrate on her own plea of guilty to a single offence of making a false representation to an immigration assistant.  She agreed a summary of facts which showed that on 20 March 1992 she presented a Thai passport bore to an immigration officer which for personal particulars, including the name, which did not relate to her although it displayed her photograph.

2.She overstayed her permission to remain in Hong Kong.  She was intercepted and arrested by police in November 2006.  Enquiries revealed the offence of which she is now convicted.

3.The magistrate took into account the fact that the offence had been committed in 1992 when sentences may have been lower than they are present.  The current appropriate starting point is one of 18 months imprisonment.  The magistrate took a starting point of half of that and then reduced it by one third for the plea of guilty resulting in a sentence of six months imprisonment.

4.That was, in any terms, a light sentence about which the appellant can have no realistic complaint.  The appeal is dismissed.

Ms Bianca Cheng, Senior Government Counsel of the Department of Justice, for the HKSAR

Appellant in person