HKSAR v. Pham Thai Van Bao

DCCC 11/2009

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 11 OF 2009

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Coram: Deputy District Judge Dufton in Court

Date of Sentence: 17 February 2009

Charge: Attempted Theft (企圖盜竊罪)

REASONS FOR SENTENCE

1.The defendant pleads guilty to one charge of attempted theft contrary to section 9 of the Theft Ordinance, Chapter 210.

2.In summary at 1805 hours on the 30th November 2008 a police officer witnessed the defendant attempting to steal a mobile phone from the jacket pocket of a 14 year-old girl as she crossed a crowded road, outside No. 227 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Sham Shui Po.

3.In HKSAR v NGO Van Huy [2005] 2 HKLRD 1 as applied in HKSAR v DUONG Van Dung & others CACC 284/2004 the Court of Appeal confirmed the guideline sentence for pickpocketing after trial is twelve to fifteen months imprisonment for a first offender, where there are no aggravating features.

4.Aggravating features include where the offence is committed in a place in which the public is at particular risk, such as crowded areas where the pedestrian traffic is heavy and where the accused is a persistent offender.

5.I am satisfied that the proper starting point after trial is one of fifteen months imprisonment.  The offence was committed in a crowded place.  The defendant has a total of thirty-two previous convictions, twenty relating to theft of which at least four are for pickpocketing.  Previous sentences have clearly failed to act as a deterrent to the defendant.  The defendant is properly classified as a persistent offender (see paragraph 11 of the judgment in DUONG Van Dung).  By reason of these aggravating features I increase the starting point to thirty months imprisonment.

6.In passing sentence I have carefully considered everything said on the defendant's behalf by Miss Tang, including that the defendant was hungry and wishes to go back to Vietnam to visit his mother, who is weak and ill.

7.The only mitigating feature is the defendant’s plea.  Giving the defendant full credit for his plea of guilty he is sentenced to twenty months imprisonment.