Read the full judgment text of CACC 000614/1997 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 18 February 1998 before Hon Power Acting CJHC, Stuart-Moore, J.A. & Cheung, J..
Criminal law – robbery – possession of offensive weapon – sentencing – lift robbery – tariff – starting point – guilty plea – one-third discount – appeal – HKSAR v. LAU SAI KIT – The applicant pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery and one count of possession of offensive weapon. The robberies occurred in lifts of a housing estate, where the applicant threatened female victims with a knife. The Deputy Judge adopted a starting point of seven years for the two robbery counts, reducing to five years after discount for the guilty plea, and imposed 18 months for the weapon charge, all concurrent. On appeal, the Court of Appeal held that a starting point of seven years was appropriate for two separate robbery offences, per the tariff in Mo Kwong Sang v. R. [1981] HKLR 610. However, the court found that the applicant should have received a full one-third discount for his guilty plea entered at the first proper opportunity, as per HKSAR v. Man Kam Shing [1997] 3 HKC 469, and the judge gave no reason for deviating. The sentence was reduced to four years and eight months to reflect the full discount. Appeal allowed to that extent.
Legal issues: Appropriate starting point for lift robbery with knife · One-third discount for guilty plea
Outcome: Appeal allowed in part; sentence reduced from 5 years to 4 years and 8 months.
Cited by 4 cases