HKSAR v. Bui Van Thang

DCCC 212/2012

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 212 OF 2012

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REASONS FOR SENTENCE

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1.You are charged with theft by pick-pocketing. You admitted as a matter of fact on a Sunday in February this year at night at Sai Yeung Choi Street, Mong Kok, you were putting your left hand into somebody’s jacket pocket. You were taking out the person’s mobile phone worth some HK$4,000. An off-duty police officer happened to see it and tried to catch you. You struggled and tried to escape. He managed to stop you.

2.Under caution, you said that because you were greedy, you wanted to steal the mobile phone.

Mitigation

3.You are 43 years old, divorced, sometimes living on public assistance and sometimes you worked on a casual basis.  You are a drug addict. 

4.You have 16 previous criminal records out of which 11 are theft or attempted theft.  Out of the 11, you have five pick-pocketing records.  For each of the five, you were sentenced to at least 10 months’ imprisonment.  Your last conviction was 3 years ago: pick-pocketing, 10 months’ imprisonment.

5.Your lawyer said that you had made every attempt to rehabilitate yourself from the last conviction.  It has been 3 years you have been totally out of trouble.

6.Thanks to both parties, this court would adopt the approach of the Court of Appeal case of Ngo Van Huy, CACC 107/2004.

7.First, I would put this case to the higher end of the pick- pocketing sentencing guidelines, i.e., 15 months, because momentarily as it was, still you have struggled and tried to escape.  

8.Secondly, you have a bad criminal record, not as bad as the said case but still bad, so the sentence is adjusted upward by 6 months.

9.Thirdly, simply because it was a crowded place, there is an additional adjustment of 3 months, and now 15 plus 6 plus 3 equals 24. 

10.You are entitled to one-third discount because you pleaded guilty. Eventually, this court sentences you to 16 months’ imprisonment.