Chan Mo Ching v. The Queen
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CACC000915/1980
----------------- Coram: Liu, J. Date of Judgment: 27th November 1980 ----------------- JUDGMENT ----------------- 1. Before the learned magistrate, the appellant was facing a charge of practicing dentistry, not being herself a registered dentist. It transpired that acting on instruction a woman police constable approached the appellant for consultation. She was examined with a mirror and a pair of tweezers. These was no evidence that the woman police constable was ever given any full range treatment. The clinic was sum by a person by the name of Fung, also being not a registered dentist but claiming to have practised dentistry in Sum Wui, Kwangtung, China. The appellant had previously been a skilled factory worker. It was said that her income proved to be unstable and that in 1974 she entered the employment of Mr. Fung in his clinic. She was taught some basic procedure about teeth and dentures. 2. According to the probation officer's report, Mr. Fung kept another clinic or office in Tsuen Wan. The probation officer's report also reveals that Mr. Fung was himself responsible for extraction or cavity. That, given the most favourable construction. I take it to be full range dental treatment. 3. It was suggested by counsel for the appellant that the learned magistrate did not have the full facts well presented to him. I cannot find any indication in favour of that suggestion. 4. My attention has not been drawn to any authority or decision other than those for a suspended three months' sentence and a fine of $1,000, maximum permitted by law. On the face of it, the sentence in this case is evidently a departure from the usual tariff favoured by the Court of Appeal in this territory. In the absence of these authorities and decisions submitted for my assistance, I would have myself passed the same sentence on the appellant as the learned magistrate did, particularly when there seems to have been a growing tendency not to take suspended sentences too curiously. If more cases of this nature would come on appeal in the future, I for one can envisage the possibility of the appeal courts adopting on entirely different attitude. Not without reluctance and after concerned consideration, I have come to the conclusion that the appeal should be allowed to the extent that the three months' sentence be suspended for two years and the fine be increased to $1,000.
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