HKSAR v. Wong Kang Sun

CACC 265/2013

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF APPEAL

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 265 OF 2013

(ON APPEAL FROM DCCC NO. 449 OF 2013)

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BETWEEN

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J U D G M E N T

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Hon Stock VP:

1.This is an application to the single judge for leave to appeal sentence.

2.In July 2013 in the District Court the applicant pleaded guilty to a single charge of theft in the nature of pickpocketing in a market in Sham Shui Po on 24 March 2013.  He had put his hand into somebody’s backpack and taken out a card holder which contained two staff cards.

3.The applicant has frankly admitted to me today, as indeed he must, that he is a recidivist.  He has a long history of offences of pickpocketing but the last such offence was some 6 years ago in 2007.  

4.What the judge did was to adopt a starting point for the offence of theft of 15 months’ imprisonment and then he said that:

“… on account of your previous appalling record, I agree with your counsel’s submissions that I would adopt 9 months as the level of increase to reflect your situation.

23. Lastly, this offence took place in a crowded market place and at the busy hours of the day so for this reason, the sentence shall be further increase by 3 months.”

5.Through that process, the judge arrived to an overall starting point of 27 months and reduced it by one-third to reflect the plea of guilty, arriving at a sentence of 18 months’ imprisonment.

6.I notice from the applicant’s criminal record that there is an offence of money laundering in 2012 but it is not a matter upon which the judge relied in aggravation and rightly so.  It seems to me that the applicant has an arguable case as to the enhancement of as much as 9 months on account of his previous record given in particular the proportion of that enhancement to the initial starting point and the fact that some years had passed after the previous pickpocketing offence.  

7.For these reasons, I grant the applicant leave to appeal against sentence. 

Mr Andrew Li, SPP (Ag.) of the Department of Justice, for the Respondent

Applicant – acting in person