Read the full judgment text of HCMA 243/2011 on BabelCite. This Court of First Instance judgment was delivered on 29 April 2011 before 杜麗冰.
Criminal law – sentencing appeal – offences of inciting another for an immoral purpose and breach of condition of stay by a Two-way Permit holder – magistrate's power to uplift sentencing baseline based on prevalence of crime in the area – procedural requirement to invite defence submissions before relying on prevalence – whether sentence manifestly excessive and wrong in principle – HKSAR v Xie Chun-mei [2004] 1 HKLRD 865 treated as sentencing guideline for similar cases – Sentencing in Hong Kong 5th Edition 2007, Chapter 33, p 406 – appellant with no prior convictions – appeal allowed – sentence on each charge reduced from 4 months to 3 months' imprisonment, concurrent.
Legal issues: Procedural fairness in sentencing — opportunity to make submissions on prevalence of crime · Whether sentence was manifestly excessive
Outcome: Appeal against sentence allowed; original sentences quashed and replaced.
Cites 1 case