HKSAR v. Chan Kwai Nam

DCCC 417/2014

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO 417 OF 2014

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to one single count of robbery, contrary to section 10 of the Theft Ordinance, Cap 210. The particulars are that on 6 April this year, you in a Circle K robbed a Miss Tang, a Circle K cashier, of $600 cash and other items belonging to Circle K.

2.The facts are that you targeted Circle K at about 2 o’clock in the morning.  You selected goods such as snacks, cigarettes and bath products and approached the cashier once it was free of other customers.  PW1, Miss Tang, bagged all your shopping and asked you how you would like to pay.  You suddenly pointed a file, described as about 16 centimetres long, at PW1 and asked her for money.  She was frightened and handed you $600 cash.  She also at the same time pressed the alarm button. This alerted the police.  You took the bags of shopping that had not been paid for, the $600 and left Circle K.  You boarded a taxi.  However, the staff watched you board the taxi and told the police the taxi registration number.

3.Within minutes, the taxi was intercepted by the police, and they found you, the items in the shopping bags, the file and the $600 in the taxi.

4.Upon arrest, you made a full admission to the police.  You subsequently told the police that you committed this offence because you were hungry, had no food or money, and you had been unemployed for a long period of time. 

5.It is agreed the value of the items stolen added up to $1,390.

6.The best mitigation today is your plea of guilty.  At the earliest opportunity, you made a full confession to the police.  You are not a man of clear record.  You have 11 previous convictions but nothing similar.  I do note that for the past 10 years, your only convictions relate to either managing a vice establishment or operating a gambling establishment. 

7.I have heard full mitigation and have been told that you are 40 years old.  You are not married but you live with your girlfriend, and you have two sons together.  They are 9 and 10 years old. Until you were unemployed, you were the breadwinner of the family which included your elderly parents.  I have been told you lost your job in August 2013, and this led you to committing this offence.

8.There are guidelines for robbery, and the sentences are often stiff and heavy to reflect the seriousness of the offence. The authority of Mo Kwong Sang v R [1981] HKLR 610 sets out guidelines that are still considered today.  What is relevant in that authority is that the court considered a starting point of 5 years appropriate if a robber was carrying a knife or dangerous weapon.  The court should add to that starting point if there are aggravating factors that exist.   

9.There are no aggravating factors I see in this case.  I take into account the items that you stole include personal hygiene items, food and cigarettes.  The money you were handed totalled $600.  I have also taken into account the weapon you pointed at the cashier.  Whether a weapon is dangerous should be given a common-sense meaning.  Here it is a foldable nail-file and a cuticle cleaner that when opened up is about 6 inches long.  When closed, it is about 3 inches long.  It can be described as a pocket nail-file.  It is small.  Nonetheless, the cuticle cleaner looks sharp in the photograph I have seen.  However, it is not a knife with a blade or a file that has been deliberately sharpened.  I will take into account the weapon you pointed at the cashier when considering sentence.

10.Defendant, please stand up.  I have considered, in coming to the appropriate starting point, the facts of this case, the mitigation put forward, including your background, the plea today, the co-operation with the police, the items stolen and the weapon displayed. Having considered all those factors as well as the authority, I will take a 4 years and 6 months’ starting point.  You are entitled to a discount of one-third for your plea.  That is a discount of 18 months.

11.Accordingly, for this offence, you are sentenced to 3 years’ imprisonment.  Do you understand the sentence?

DEFENDANT: Understood.