Wai Ying-chor v. The Queen

Case No.CACC 867/1975

Court

Court of Appeal

Date30 Oct 1975

Judge—

Case Document

100%

CACC000867/1975

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF HONG KONG

(APPELLATE JURISDICTION)

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 867 OF 1975

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BETWEEN:
	WAI Ying-chor	Appellant
	and
	THE QUEEN	Respondent

Coram: Briggs, C.J.

Date of Judgment: 30th October, 1975.

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JUDGMENT

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1. This is an appeal against sentence. The appellant was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment on one count of robbery and to a further six months on a second count of robbery.

2. The appellant originally came before the court in June 1971. At that time he was found guilty of one offence and was acquitted of the other offence. The magistrate admitted the defendant to probation for two years with special conditions providing that he live and work where directed by the probation officer and that he report to the magistrate every three months. The appellant failed to obey the conditions of the probation order.

3. In August 1975 the appellant was found guilty of being a member of a triad society and sentenced to three months' imprisonment. That case is NK 21167/75 and the date of the sentence in that case was the 8th September, 1975. The magistrate, on the latter date, dealt with the appellant for the 1971 robbery charges and, as I have already said, sentenced him to two consecutive periods of imprisonment.

4. The magistrate has informed this court that he made a mistake in sentencing the appellant on the second count of robbery as, in fact, he had acquitted him on that count in 1971. The appeal against sentence on that charge is therefore allowed and the sentence of six months' imprisonment is quashed.

5. The robbery charges are by now very stale and the offence for which the appellant was found guilty in 1971 occurred when he was 18. For the greater part of the period from 1971 to 1975 the appellant has been in Mainland China. In the circumstances, I think the best thing to do is to substitute for the sentence of nine months' imprisonment on the first charge of robbery a sentence of imprisonment of such length so as to enable the appellant to be released on the same day as the expiry of the sentence of three months passed on him in case NK 22167/75.

	(Geoffrey Briggs)
	Chief Justice.

Representation:

Appellant in person.

Sharwood for crown.