Read the full judgment text of HCMA 634/2012 on BabelCite. This Court of First Instance judgment was delivered on 4 December 2012 before 馮驊.
Criminal law – sentencing – breach of deportation order – illegal stay – shop theft – sentencing appeal – repeated offending – deterrent sentencing – partial consecutive sentences – Criminal law – sentencing for breach of deportation order – whether sentence manifestly excessive – whether 4-month sentence for shop theft manifestly excessive – appellant is Vietnamese illegal immigrant with four prior breaches of deportation order and four prior illegal stay convictions – magistrate applied sentencing principle that sentences for illegal stay and breach of deportation order should not be entirely concurrent but partially consecutive – sentence for breach of deportation order uplifted from 18 to 24 months due to four prior identical convictions following HKSAR v Cortez Emily Bisoy and HKSAR v Nguyen Tuan Anh – maximum sentence for breach of deportation order is 7 years, higher than 3 years for illegal stay – shop theft sentence of 4 months consecutive not manifestly excessive given appellant's more than 10 prior similar convictions – appeal against sentence dismissed – total sentence of 33 months upheld – sentencing math: 18 months starting point for illegal stay, uplifted to 24 months for breach of deportation order with 4 prior identical convictions, 9 months concurrent for charges (2) and (3), 4 months consecutive for theft, total 33 months.
Legal issues: Whether sentences for breach of deportation order and illegal stay are manifestly excessive · Whether the 4-month sentence for shop theft is manifestly excessive
Outcome: Sentence appeal dismissed; total sentence of 33 months' imprisonment upheld.
Cited by 1 case