DCCC719/2010 HKSAR v. CHOI PING CHIU AND ANOTHER - LawHero
DCCC719/2010
區域法院（刑事）Deputy District Judge A Yim24/8/2010
DCCC719/2010
A DCCC719/2010 A
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE
B HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION B
CRIMINAL CASE NO.719 OF 2010
--------------------
C C
HKSAR
D D
v.
E CHOI Ping-chiu (D1) E
YEUNG Wai-shan (D2)
F F
--------------------
G G
Before: Deputy District Judge A Yim
Date: 25 August 2010 at 16:26 pm
H Present: Mr KWOK Wing-lung, Senior PP, of the Department of H
Justice, for HKSAR
I
Mr AU King Wah Alan, instructed by Messrs. Hagon Wai & I
Partners, assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for
the defendant
J Offence: (1) - (4), (7) Theft (盜竊罪) J
(5) Attempted theft (企圖盜竊罪)
K (6) Handling stolen goods (處理贓物罪) K
(8) Possession of identity cards relating to others (管
有他人的身分證)
L L
(9) – (10) Assaulting a police officer in the execution
of his duty (襲擊執行職責的警務人員)
M M
---------------------
N N
Reasons for Sentence
O O
---------------------
P The first defendant was charged with: P
• 4 counts of theft contrary to section 9 of the Theft
Ordinance Cap 210 (Charge 1, 2, 4, 7);
Q Q
• 1 count attempted theft contrary to section 9 of the
Theft Ordinance Cap.210 and section 159G of the Crimes
R Ordinance Cap.200 (Charge 5) R
• 1 count of assaulting police officer contrary to section
63 of the Police Force Ordinance, Cap.232 (Charge 9)
S S
The second defendant was charged with:
T • 1 count of handling stolen goods contrary to section 24 T
of the Theft Ordinance Cap.210 (Charge 6);
U U
CRT22/25.8.2010 1 DCCC719/2010/Sentence
V V
A • 1 count of possession of identity cards relating to A
others, contrary to section 7A(1A) of the Registration of
Persons Ordinance, Cap.177 (Charge 8);
B B
• 1 count of assaulting a police officer contrary to
section 63 of the Police Force Ordinance Cap.232 (Charge
C 10) C
The first and the second defendant were jointly charged with
D 1 count of theft contrary to section 9 of the Theft Ordinance D
Cap. 210 (Charge 3)
E E
The first defendant pleaded guilty to charge 1, 2, 3, 4, 7,
9; and admitted the facts, he was convicted accordingly.
F F
The second defendant pleaded guilty to charge 10 and
admitted the facts, she was convicted accordingly.
G G
Upon the application from the prosecution, the rest of the
charges were put on court file and not to proceed without leave.
H H
Facts
I At 2:30am on 2 February 2010, D1, D2 and a wanted person I
boarded taxi KA1446 driven by the victim. The victim put his
wallet in the pit of the driver door. During the journey, D1 who
J sat behind the victim distracted the attention of the victim and J
took opportunity to steal the $850 and the octopus card inside
K
the said wallet. (Charge 1) K
At 10:50pm on 26 February 2010, D1, D2 and 3 wanted person
L boarded taxi KG4740 driven by the victim. D1 sat next to the L
victim in the front. During the journey, he used a piece of
newspaper to block the victim’s view and took the opportunity to
M steal $630 from the dashboard. The victim discovered his monies M
was missing, and managed to keep D2 inside the taxi, and
N reported to Police. D1 later returned to the scene; and the N
defendants were arrested. D1 was found in possession of $1340.
(Charge 2)
O O
At 1:00am on 26 March 2010, Mak Sin-yeung met his girlfriend
Chau Wing-gi (Chau), D1, D2 and Ah Nam at a hotel room, they are
P friends to each other. Inside the room D1 borrowed Mak Sin- P
yeung’s mobile phone for use and left. Mak then found his wallet
Q containing $200, his ID card, his Home Visit Permit and an ATM Q
card was missing from Chau’s handbag. Chau also found her wallet
containing $150, her ID card, her re-entry card, her student
R card, her resident card and ATM card missing from her handbag. R
At 12 noon, D1 and D2 returned, when Mak and Chau demanded for
their properties, D1 stated the properties had been taken away
S S
by Ah Nam and took them to President Centre where D1 only
returned the ID card, re-entry card, student card and resident
T card to Chau but he did not mention the rest of the properties. T
(Charge 3 and 4)
U U
CRT22/25.8.2010 2 DCCC719/2010/Sentence
V V
A At 8:15pm on 20 April 2010 D1 and D2 boarded a taxi JU2630 A
driven by the victim. D1 sat next to the victim in the front, on
arrival, he used a piece of newspaper to block the victim’s view
B and stole $570 from the cushion of the driver’s seat. The B
defendants were intercepted by Police who found them getting off
the taxi in a suspicious manner. D1 was found holding the stolen
C C
monies in his hand. (Charge 7)
D The defendants were taken to police station. At about D
3:20am on 21 April 2010, DPC 6712 and WPC 57159 intended to take
fingerprint from the defendants. D2 turned emotional upon being
E told by DPC6712 that they could not be released on bail. D2 E
refused fingerprint lifting, shouted, and tried to bump against
PC6712 and kicked the chairs. On hearing the noise, 5 police
F F
officers including SPC 17553 went to the room offering
assistance. The Police officers pressed D2 and stopped her. At
G this moment, D1 suddenly stood up and shouted, “don’t touch my G
wife”. He bumped against SPC 17553’s right body twice. D2
jumped onto a table and shouted, “I am pregnant; you hit my
H husband”. D2 then kicked SPC 17553’s right thigh. The H
defendants were finally subdued. SPC 17553 did not sustain any
I
injury. (Charge 9 and 10) I
As in the case of pick-pocketing, though no fault of their
J own, personal properties close to the victims were being stolen J
without their notice, I noted that here did not involved any
trespass to person, yet these are premeditated theft. I consider
K the appropriate starting point for the theft charge 1, 2, 3, 7 K
to be 12 months imprisonment, while charge 4 to be 9 months; and
L that for the assaulting police officer charges to be 3 months. L
Mitigation
M The defendants are boyfriend and girlfriend. M
The first defendant aged 33, unemployed and lives with his
N family. The defendant is willing to compensate the victims in N
full. The first defendant has 19 previous convictions in which
O 13 counts of theft, 4 counts of fraud, 7 counts concern O
dishonesty and a number of other counts concern violence, drugs
and dutiable commodities. The defendant had been sent to
P training center, DATC and prison, yet he committed further P
offences shortly after he was released from prison. Apart from
that the defendant committed further offences and has 3 more
Q Q
convictions earlier this year for offences committed in October
2009, November 2009 and February 2010; and the earliest release
R date of the last 3 convictions is December 2010. R
I consider the first defendant to be a persistent offender.
S His criminal record suggests that previous sentences imposed on S
him are simply no deterrent to him. I consider this amount to an
aggravating feature, and need to impose a deterrent sentence on
T T
the defendant. I consider and increase the starting point of the
theft charges by 6 months.
U U
CRT22/25.8.2010 3 DCCC719/2010/Sentence
V V
A The first defendant was on police bail when he committed the A
present offences, I consider this to be a further aggravating
factor and increase the starting point for the theft charges by
B another 3 months. B
The offences committed by the defendant are serious, long
C C
term imprisonment upon conviction should be anticipated by him.
I do not consider that the defendant expects his child on 3
D September amount to a mitigating factor. D
The defendant entitled to 1/3 discount for his plea. I do
E not consider there to be any mitigating factor call for further E
deduction. These are all separate offences. However, taking
into account of the totality consideration, I order the sentence
F F
to run partly concurrent and partly consecutive, making a total
of 32 months imprisonment consecutive with his current sentence.
G G
The second defendant aged 21, without a stable job, with
history of psychiatric problem, lives with her family. The
H defendant has 5 previous conviction records; and she was ordered H
to serve probation order and DATC order.
I I
The second defendant entitled to 1/3 discount for her plea.
She is now pregnant and expects the childbirth on 3 September.
J Further taken into account that the defendant has been remanded J
for this case from 20 April to 6 August, I consider a nominal
fine is appropriate in her case.
K K
L L
Order
M The first defendant M
Charge 1 sentenced to 14 months,
make restitution of $850 to the victim, $710 to be
N deducted from the $1340 seized from the defendant. N
Charge 2 sentenced to 14 months, 6 months to run consecutive,
O make restitution of $630 to the victim, to be deducted O
from the $1340 seized from the defendant.
Charge 3 sentenced to 14 months, 4 months to run consecutive
P make restitution of $200 to Mak Sin-yeung and $150 to P
Chau Wing-gi
Charge 4 sentenced to 12 months, concurrent with the others
Q Q
make restitution of $1000 to the victim
Charge 7 sentenced to 14 months, 6 months to run consecutive,
R make restitution of $570 to the victim, to be deducted R
from the $570 seized from the defendant.
Charge 9 sentenced to 2 months, consecutive with the others;
S making a total of 32 months imprisonment, S
consecutive with his current sentence of Cases
E/1050/10; E/1757/10 and E/3415/10
T T
U U
CRT22/25.8.2010 4 DCCC719/2010/Sentence
V V
A The second defendant A
Charge 2 fined $200 to be deducted from her bail monies.
B B
C C
D (A. Yim) D
Deputy District Judge
E E
F F
G G
H H
I I
J J
K K
L L
M M
N N
O O
P P
Q Q
R R
S S
T T
U U
CRT22/25.8.2010 5 DCCC719/2010/Sentence
V V
A DCCC719/2010 A
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE
B HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION B
CRIMINAL CASE NO.719 OF 2010
--------------------
C C
HKSAR
D D
v.
E CHOI Ping-chiu (D1) E
YEUNG Wai-shan (D2)
F F
--------------------
G G
Before: Deputy District Judge A Yim
Date: 25 August 2010 at 16:26 pm
H Present: Mr KWOK Wing-lung, Senior PP, of the Department of H
Justice, for HKSAR
I
Mr AU King Wah Alan, instructed by Messrs. Hagon Wai & I
Partners, assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for
the defendant
J Offence: (1) - (4), (7) Theft (盜竊罪) J
(5) Attempted theft (企圖盜竊罪)
K (6) Handling stolen goods (處理贓物罪) K
(8) Possession of identity cards relating to others (管
有他人的身分證)
L L
(9) – (10) Assaulting a police officer in the execution
of his duty (襲擊執行職責的警務人員)
M M
---------------------
N N
Reasons for Sentence
O O
---------------------
P The first defendant was charged with: P
• 4 counts of theft contrary to section 9 of the Theft
Ordinance Cap 210 (Charge 1, 2, 4, 7);
Q Q
• 1 count attempted theft contrary to section 9 of the
Theft Ordinance Cap.210 and section 159G of the Crimes
R Ordinance Cap.200 (Charge 5) R
• 1 count of assaulting police officer contrary to section
63 of the Police Force Ordinance, Cap.232 (Charge 9)
S S
The second defendant was charged with:
T • 1 count of handling stolen goods contrary to section 24 T
of the Theft Ordinance Cap.210 (Charge 6);
U U
CRT22/25.8.2010 1 DCCC719/2010/Sentence
V V
A • 1 count of possession of identity cards relating to A
others, contrary to section 7A(1A) of the Registration of
Persons Ordinance, Cap.177 (Charge 8);
B B
• 1 count of assaulting a police officer contrary to
section 63 of the Police Force Ordinance Cap.232 (Charge
C 10) C
The first and the second defendant were jointly charged with
D 1 count of theft contrary to section 9 of the Theft Ordinance D
Cap. 210 (Charge 3)
E E
The first defendant pleaded guilty to charge 1, 2, 3, 4, 7,
9; and admitted the facts, he was convicted accordingly.
F F
The second defendant pleaded guilty to charge 10 and
admitted the facts, she was convicted accordingly.
G G
Upon the application from the prosecution, the rest of the
charges were put on court file and not to proceed without leave.
H H
Facts
I At 2:30am on 2 February 2010, D1, D2 and a wanted person I
boarded taxi KA1446 driven by the victim. The victim put his
wallet in the pit of the driver door. During the journey, D1 who
J sat behind the victim distracted the attention of the victim and J
took opportunity to steal the $850 and the octopus card inside
K
the said wallet. (Charge 1) K
At 10:50pm on 26 February 2010, D1, D2 and 3 wanted person
L boarded taxi KG4740 driven by the victim. D1 sat next to the L
victim in the front. During the journey, he used a piece of
newspaper to block the victim’s view and took the opportunity to
M steal $630 from the dashboard. The victim discovered his monies M
was missing, and managed to keep D2 inside the taxi, and
N reported to Police. D1 later returned to the scene; and the N
defendants were arrested. D1 was found in possession of $1340.
(Charge 2)
O O
At 1:00am on 26 March 2010, Mak Sin-yeung met his girlfriend
Chau Wing-gi (Chau), D1, D2 and Ah Nam at a hotel room, they are
P friends to each other. Inside the room D1 borrowed Mak Sin- P
yeung’s mobile phone for use and left. Mak then found his wallet
Q containing $200, his ID card, his Home Visit Permit and an ATM Q
card was missing from Chau’s handbag. Chau also found her wallet
containing $150, her ID card, her re-entry card, her student
R card, her resident card and ATM card missing from her handbag. R
At 12 noon, D1 and D2 returned, when Mak and Chau demanded for
their properties, D1 stated the properties had been taken away
S S
by Ah Nam and took them to President Centre where D1 only
returned the ID card, re-entry card, student card and resident
T card to Chau but he did not mention the rest of the properties. T
(Charge 3 and 4)
U U
CRT22/25.8.2010 2 DCCC719/2010/Sentence
V V
A At 8:15pm on 20 April 2010 D1 and D2 boarded a taxi JU2630 A
driven by the victim. D1 sat next to the victim in the front, on
arrival, he used a piece of newspaper to block the victim’s view
B and stole $570 from the cushion of the driver’s seat. The B
defendants were intercepted by Police who found them getting off
the taxi in a suspicious manner. D1 was found holding the stolen
C C
monies in his hand. (Charge 7)
D The defendants were taken to police station. At about D
3:20am on 21 April 2010, DPC 6712 and WPC 57159 intended to take
fingerprint from the defendants. D2 turned emotional upon being
E told by DPC6712 that they could not be released on bail. D2 E
refused fingerprint lifting, shouted, and tried to bump against
PC6712 and kicked the chairs. On hearing the noise, 5 police
F F
officers including SPC 17553 went to the room offering
assistance. The Police officers pressed D2 and stopped her. At
G this moment, D1 suddenly stood up and shouted, “don’t touch my G
wife”. He bumped against SPC 17553’s right body twice. D2
jumped onto a table and shouted, “I am pregnant; you hit my
H husband”. D2 then kicked SPC 17553’s right thigh. The H
defendants were finally subdued. SPC 17553 did not sustain any
I
injury. (Charge 9 and 10) I
As in the case of pick-pocketing, though no fault of their
J own, personal properties close to the victims were being stolen J
without their notice, I noted that here did not involved any
trespass to person, yet these are premeditated theft. I consider
K the appropriate starting point for the theft charge 1, 2, 3, 7 K
to be 12 months imprisonment, while charge 4 to be 9 months; and
L that for the assaulting police officer charges to be 3 months. L
Mitigation
M The defendants are boyfriend and girlfriend. M
The first defendant aged 33, unemployed and lives with his
N family. The defendant is willing to compensate the victims in N
full. The first defendant has 19 previous convictions in which
O 13 counts of theft, 4 counts of fraud, 7 counts concern O
dishonesty and a number of other counts concern violence, drugs
and dutiable commodities. The defendant had been sent to
P training center, DATC and prison, yet he committed further P
offences shortly after he was released from prison. Apart from
that the defendant committed further offences and has 3 more
Q Q
convictions earlier this year for offences committed in October
2009, November 2009 and February 2010; and the earliest release
R date of the last 3 convictions is December 2010. R
I consider the first defendant to be a persistent offender.
S His criminal record suggests that previous sentences imposed on S
him are simply no deterrent to him. I consider this amount to an
aggravating feature, and need to impose a deterrent sentence on
T T
the defendant. I consider and increase the starting point of the
theft charges by 6 months.
U U
CRT22/25.8.2010 3 DCCC719/2010/Sentence
V V
A The first defendant was on police bail when he committed the A
present offences, I consider this to be a further aggravating
factor and increase the starting point for the theft charges by
B another 3 months. B
The offences committed by the defendant are serious, long
C C
term imprisonment upon conviction should be anticipated by him.
I do not consider that the defendant expects his child on 3
D September amount to a mitigating factor. D
The defendant entitled to 1/3 discount for his plea. I do
E not consider there to be any mitigating factor call for further E
deduction. These are all separate offences. However, taking
into account of the totality consideration, I order the sentence
F F
to run partly concurrent and partly consecutive, making a total
of 32 months imprisonment consecutive with his current sentence.
G G
The second defendant aged 21, without a stable job, with
history of psychiatric problem, lives with her family. The
H defendant has 5 previous conviction records; and she was ordered H
to serve probation order and DATC order.
I I
The second defendant entitled to 1/3 discount for her plea.
She is now pregnant and expects the childbirth on 3 September.
J Further taken into account that the defendant has been remanded J
for this case from 20 April to 6 August, I consider a nominal
fine is appropriate in her case.
K K
L L
Order
M The first defendant M
Charge 1 sentenced to 14 months,
make restitution of $850 to the victim, $710 to be
N deducted from the $1340 seized from the defendant. N
Charge 2 sentenced to 14 months, 6 months to run consecutive,
O make restitution of $630 to the victim, to be deducted O
from the $1340 seized from the defendant.
Charge 3 sentenced to 14 months, 4 months to run consecutive
P make restitution of $200 to Mak Sin-yeung and $150 to P
Chau Wing-gi
Charge 4 sentenced to 12 months, concurrent with the others
Q Q
make restitution of $1000 to the victim
Charge 7 sentenced to 14 months, 6 months to run consecutive,
R make restitution of $570 to the victim, to be deducted R
from the $570 seized from the defendant.
Charge 9 sentenced to 2 months, consecutive with the others;
S making a total of 32 months imprisonment, S
consecutive with his current sentence of Cases
E/1050/10; E/1757/10 and E/3415/10
T T
U U
CRT22/25.8.2010 4 DCCC719/2010/Sentence
V V
A The second defendant A
Charge 2 fined $200 to be deducted from her bail monies.
B B
C C
D (A. Yim) D
Deputy District Judge
E E
F F
G G
H H
I I
J J
K K
L L
M M
N N
O O
P P
Q Q
R R
S S
T T
U U
CRT22/25.8.2010 5 DCCC719/2010/Sentence
V V