HKSAR v. Chu Yiu Cheung

DCCC96/2010

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 96 OF 2010

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.The defendant has pleaded guilty to one charge of burglary, and the premises in which he entered was a hairdressing salon in which he had worked and he stole cash of $300.

2.The facts are that the defendant had gained entry into the salon very late at night when everybody had left because he knew that the lock in the backdoor was not effective. He went in with his mother and opened the box which was on the reception counter and stole $300 belonging to a hair stylist working in the premises.

3.The salon had a CCTV camera and as a result of that, the persons in charge of the hairdressing salon reported the matter to the police and the defendant was arrested.

4.The defendant, to his credit, said he did steal the money and that the female who came with him to the salon was his mother. He said he stole the money because he had been fined for littering and had no money to pay the fine.

5.The defendant is aged, according to the probation officer, aged 18. But according to the detention centre report, he is 17 years 11 months. His background is very sad. He went to primary school in Hong Kong and only completed Form 2. Thereafter he worked at various jobs and finally he ended up working at the victim’s salon from where he subsequently stole.

6.Unfortunately, for such a young age he had had several previous convictions, three for theft and one for assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The defendant was the child of a broken family. The father abandoned him and his mother and him relied on comprehensive social security assistance.

7.It is clear, from all the reports, that the mother is incapable of teaching him in the correct ways to behave and this is very apparent and obvious in the way that she accompanied him to break into or rather to enter the salon illegally in the middle of the night. A good mother would have told her son not to do this and yet she encouraged him by going with him.

8.The mother has written a letter to this court. The mother’s letter shows how selfish she is. All she cares about is the money the defendant would earn as the breadwinner of the family. She is not elderly, she is capable of working instead of relying on her son to work to get money for her living.

9.It is clear that the mother is incapable of looking after the defendant well. Because of this insufficient and ineffective supervision from the mother, the defendant had fallen into bad ways and therefore resulting in his previous convictions of theft.

10.I am informed that the last conviction for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, the defendant had committed basically in defence of his mother. The defendant is a good son and it is very, very heartrending to see that such a good son has failed to receive any guidance from his mother.

11.It is clear that the defendant is a good person at heart and it is clear from the letter from the Hong Kong Christian Service that he is capable of working hard to better himself. The courts have previously given many chances to the defendant by putting him on probation. But without the necessary help from his mother who is the closest family he has, he fell back into undesirable company.

12.Probation and outside help does not work if the person closest to the defendant does not help him. The report, as I have seen, says the defendant is suitable for admission to a rehabilitation centre, a detention centre or a training centre. I understand from Mr Ng, in mitigation, that the defendant wants to rehabilitate himself and wants to study and asks if he could go to a rehabilitation centre.

13.The rehabilitation centre consists of a short period of time where the defendant is given guidance initially in what is right and what is wrong, and eventually he is allowed to live in a sort of halfway house where he could perhaps learn for a trade or a vocation. It is only suitable if the defendant has the necessary support and guidance from his family when he eventually comes out.

14.I understand from the PO report that the defendant does not even have a bedroom; he sleeps in the sitting room on the floor at his grandmother’s house. His mother is incapable of looking after him. I consider that given the defendant’s present background, he does need a period where he could have a stable place, a stable environment in which he could learn a vocation or a trade so that when he is released, he will then have the means to earn a living.

15.Because his mother is incapable of looking after his interests, after his release he will have supervision from the training centre personnel so that he can then be able to re-establish himself in the outside world with guidance from his after-care officer.

16.I know that the period is longer in a training centre, but at the end of the day if he is of good behaviour, he would be released after a short time, and he needs that stable environment for the defendant to be able to learn a trade and come out in the world again. I do not want the defendant to think that it is a form of punishment and putting him away for a long time. I know and I appreciate that the defendant is basically in him a good person. But he has not received the proper guidance. So I therefore consider that an appropriate sentence in this case, taking into account the offence and especially the sad background of the defendant that it is appropriate for him to go to a training centre, so I shall so order.