HKSAR v. Kashif

DCCC 280/2013

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO 280 OF 2013

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.Kashif, on 9 September this year, you were convicted by me after trial of the offence of robbery.

2.The victim of the robbery was a 16-year-old schoolboy.  Shortly after midnight on 10 January this year, he was on his way home after he had finished his part-time job at a McDonald’s restaurant.  His route home took him through the Kwok Shui Road Park, where you and four companions were sitting and chatting in the vicinity of a public toilet.

3.As he walked through the park, the victim was operating his Samsung Galaxy Smartphone.  As he approached your group, two of you, and I accept that you were not involved at this stage, went up to him. One, the 5th defendant, grabbed his wrist, while the other, the 1st defendant, pushed his shoulder, causing him to fall to the ground and drop his mobile phone.

4.The 1st defendant, who had caused him to fall to the ground, grabbed the mobile phone and started to run off.  When the victim got to his feet in order to give chase, you blocked his way.  You kicked his leg, and when he tried to move, you punched him in the vicinity of his ear.

5.As the result of your actions and the actions of at least one of your companions who grabbed hold of the victim’s upper garment, the 1st defendant, who had seized the victim’s mobile phone, was able to retain it and to escape.  You and your other companions then left the scene.

6.About 20 minutes later, all five of you were found by the police nearby in Kwong Fai Circuit.  One of your companions, the 5th defendant, had the stolen mobile phone in his pocket.

7.Because of your age, which was 18 at the time of the offence, I called for a background report and reports as to your suitability for training and detention centre.  They have been helpful as to your background.

8.In considering the appropriate starting point in this case, I have borne in mind that this was not a robbery in which weapons were used or displayed.  However, it was, as I said when I sentenced the 5th defendant, a cowardly attack on a young boy, aggravated by the fact that it was committed by a group of you late at night as the victim walked home on his own.

9.I bear in mind that you are a young man of previous good character.  As I have said before, I am prepared to accept, for the purpose of sentence, that you were not party to any prior agreement, express or implied, with your two companions, the 1st defendant and the 5th defendant, who first approached the victim to commit the robbery.  However, it was clear from the evidence that seeing what they were doing, you joined in to ensure that the robbery was successful.

10.Had your involvement been simply to block the way of the victim to ensure that your companion could escape with the mobile phone, I might have taken a more lenient view.  However, you did not simply do that.  You kicked him and struck him in the vicinity of the ear.  I do take into account, however, that fortunately the injuries suffered by the victim were minor.

11.I am prepared to accept that your decision to participate in the robbery was made on the spur of the moment and made in order to support your companions who were in the course of committing the robbery.

12.I have carefully considered the reports I have received.  I bear in mind that this offence seems to be out of character.  The reports relate that since returning to Hong Kong in 2011, you appear to have had a stable working pattern and have been remitting money to your younger brother, who is studying in Pakistan.  The reports say that your physical condition makes you unsuitable for detention centre, but that you would be suitable for detention in a training centre.

13.While I consider that an order for detention in a training centre would have been the appropriate sentence if this matter had come for sentence earlier, I have to bear in mind that you have now been in custody for more than nine months.  A sentence of detention in a training centre would be likely to result in your detention for at least another 18 months, so I am of the view that such a period in custody would be disproportionate to your relative culpability and the sentence passed on the 5th defendant.

14.Had it not been for your age at the time and the stage at which you became involved in the robbery, I would have considered a starting point of 3 years’ imprisonment as being appropriate.  Bearing in mind those two features, I am adopting a starting point of 2½ years’ imprisonment, or 30 months.

15.You have not shown any remorse for your involvement in this offence, and therefore are entitled to no further discount on that account.

16.I accordingly pass a sentence of 30 months’ imprisonment.