Read the full judgment text of CACC 495/2011 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 30 October 2012 before Yeung Ag CJHC, Lunn JA.
Criminal law – sentencing – theft – professional organised shoplifting targeting luxury shops in Tsim Sha Tsui – three counts involving stolen bags worth HK$13,000 to HK$29,100 – appellant part of sophisticated team with careful planning and clinical execution – whether 2-year starting point for each count was manifestly excessive – whether sentence should be reduced for disparity with co-accused sentenced to 27 to 34 months – settled authority that theft attracts no general sentencing guidelines and each case depends on its facts – Court of Appeal distinguishes simple pickpocket guideline in R v Vy Van Kien – endorsement of 4-year sentences for systematic, highly organised gangs of professional shop thieves in HKSAR v Nguyen Anh Cuong and consistent with R v Cyril Edward Page & Ors – Hong Kong's reputation as 'a heaven for shopping' and importance to luxury brands and tourism cited as aggravating – appellant with 15 prior dishonesty convictions, including 5-year sentence in 2006/2007, committed offences within months of release in February 2010 showing previous sentences had failed to deter – proper approach is to ignore sentences on co-accused imposed by different judges on different occasions and to assess only the appropriateness of the appellant's own sentence – appeal against sentence dismissed – total sentence of 4 years' imprisonment upheld (2 years on count 1 plus 1 year consecutive each on counts 2 and 3).
Legal issues: Whether the 2-year starting point for each count of professional shop theft was manifestly excessive · Whether sentence disparity with co-accused justified reduction
Outcome: Appeal against sentence dismissed; total sentence of 4 years' imprisonment upheld.
Cited by 3 cases · Cites 3 cases