HKSAR v. Kong Siu Chung

DCCC505/2012

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 505 OF 2012

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.The defendant in this case is 20 years of age. He has pleaded guilty to seven charges. The charges are charges of careless driving, criminal damage, two offences of using motor vehicles without insurance, an offence of using a forged registration mark, assault occasioning bodily harm, and possession of 1.27 grammes of cocaine.

2.The defendant was seen at 6.35 on the evening of 19 February 2012 driving a private car, a silver Nissan vehicle.  This was on Pak Wo Road in Fanling.  At that time an off-duty police officer was driving his car along the same road.  As the officer was driving along the defendant drove his car in front of the officer’s vehicle, causing the officer to swerve and brake to avoid a collision.  

3.The vehicles proceeded along the road and came to a stop at the traffic lights at the junction of Pak Wo Road and Yu Tai Road.  The police officer rolled down his vehicle window to remonstrate with the defendant about the mode of his driving.  The defendant suddenly got out of the vehicle with a hammer in his hand, went to the officer’s vehicle and smashed the front passenger window of the vehicle with the hammer.  There was a male passenger in the defendant’s vehicle.  He also got out and kicked the officer’s vehicle once.  The police officer’s wife who was seated in the front passenger seat sustained an abrasion to her face.  The defendant and his passenger got back into their vehicle and drove off. 

4.A few hours later, at 10.45, a Mr Chan was playing video games in a video game centre in Fanling.  He noticed the defendant and another man acting suspiciously inside the centre.  About 45 minutes later the defendant and this other man rushed towards Mr Chan to assault him.  The defendant hit Mr Chan with a hammer which was about two foot in length.  Mr Chan used his left arm to ward off the blows on two occasions. Mr Chan managed to snatch the hammer.  There was a struggle, and eventually the defendant and the man with him went away.  The defendant was seen to get on board a silver Nissan Sunny parked outside the game centre and drive away.  The other man made off on foot.

5.Mr Chan sought medical treatment for his injuries and was diagnosed to have tenderness and swelling on his left forearm.  An X-ray showed a fracture to the shaft of the left ulna and long arm dyna cast was applied. 

6.A few hours later police officers located the silver Nissan Sunny in Sheung Shui.  It was found to be bearing false registration plates, and the defendant had no insurance to cover his driving of that vehicle.  The identity of the defendant was later discovered by the police. On 23 February police officers laid ambush outside the ground floor of Tower 3, Wing Fai Centre in Fanling.  The defendant was seen to arrive at this location driving a private car.  He was arrested shortly after arriving at the location.  He was arrested for the damage caused to the police officer’s car and the assault on Mr Chan, and he admitted having committed both offences. The defendant had no insurance to cover his use of the vehicle in which he had been seen to arrive at Fanling.  A search of that car revealed the drugs the subject of the Charge 7.

7.The defendant is 20 years of age, and he’s been before the court previously.  In August of 2006 he was placed on probation for 12 months for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.  He failed to carry out the terms of that probation order and was eventually sent to the rehabilitation centre.  He was later arrested and, in February 2010, he was sent to drug addiction treatment centre for possession of dangerous drugs. 

8.On a previous occasion I adjourned this case so that I could have the advantage of drug addiction treatment centre and training centre reports.  I have those reports now.  The reports say that the defendant came from a broken family.  His father left the family when the defendant was only three months old.  His mother was obliged to work and he was mainly taken care of by his maternal grandmother.  His mother had a relationship with another gentleman, and the defendant was ineffectively and insufficiently supervised.  He maintained a distant relationship with his family members. After Primary 4 his studies deteriorated and he kept on causing trouble in school. He was sent to boarding school in June 2005 but failed to learn his lesson and led an undisciplined life. 

9.Eventually he was placed on probation for the offence of assault, but having been placed on probation he paid no heed to this and kept on violating the requirements of the probation order.  He started to associate with undesirable peers and his drug habit commenced.  And it was whilst he was under the influence of drugs that he committed these offences. 

10.The offences which the defendant has admitted are serious offences.  Certainly in relation to the assault charge, he is fortunate not to have been charged with a more serious offence given the nature of the injury sustained by Mr Chan.  It seems to me that the defendant is completely out of control.  He has been given a number of opportunities previously but failed to take advantage of them.  He says he is remorseful in his letter to the court, and the letter from the social worker indicates that his mother would assist his son in taking over in a new leaf. 

11.Because of the defendant’s age I was obliged to seek alternatives to imprisonment.  I have now read the reports.  Training centre is not recommended because of his drug problem.  Drug addiction treatment centre is recommended, but I note that he has had the advantage of attending the centre on a previous occasion and he seems to have lapsed thereafter.  As I indicated previously, these offences are serious offences. 

12.As regards the charge of careless driving, I intend to impose a sentence of 1 month imprisonment.

13.The second charge of criminal damage, I take a starting point of 15 months for that offence and reduce it to 10 months to reflect his guilty plea. 

14.For the 3rd offence of no insurance, I propose to sentence him to 1 month imprisonment and disqualify him from driving for 12 months. 

15.In relation to the forged registration mark, I propose to take a starting point of 6 months and reduce that to 4 to reflect his guilty plea. 

16.I order that those sentences run concurrently.  In respect of those four offences I impose a total of 10 months imprisonment. 

17.In respect of Charge 5, the assault occasioning actual bodily harm, I take a starting point of 15 months’ imprisonment and reduce that to 10 months to reflect his guilty plea.  I order that 5 months of that sentence run consecutive to the sentences on the first four charges. 

18.In respect of the no insurance charge, Charge 6, I sentence him to 1 month imprisonment and disqualify him from driving for 2 years.

19.In respect to the possession of cocaine, I take a starting point of 12 months and reduce that to 8 months to reflect his guilty plea.  I order that four months of that sentence run consecutive to the other sentences on the six previous offences.

20.That will mean that the defendant will go to prison for a total of 19 months, and he will be disqualified from driving for a period of 2 years.  If he drives within that two year period he commits an offence of driving whilst disqualified, which is a serious offence for which he will be sent to prison.