DCCC847/2025

DCCC847/2025

A A B B DCCC 847/2025 C [2025] HKDC 2107 C D IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE D HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION E E CRIMINAL CASE NO 847 OF 2025 F F ---------------------------- G G HKSAR H V H SARANTUYA MUNKHDELKHII I I ---------------------------- J J Before: Deputy District Judge Terence Wai K K Date: 10 December 2025 L Present: Mr Hui Sammy W C, counsel on fiat, for HKSAR L Ms Chong Sezen K Y, instructed by Kevin L H Kwong & Co, M M assigned by DLA, for the defendant N N Offence: [1] & [2] Theft（盜竊罪） O O ----------------------------------------- P P REASONS FOR SENTENCE Q ----------------------------------------- Q R R 1. The defendant pleaded guilty to two charges of Theft, S contrary to section 9 of the Theft Ordinance, Cap 210. S T T U U V V  -2- A A B B Facts C C Charge 1 D D E 2. The defendant, a Mongolian national, entered Hong Kong as E a visitor on 14 January 2025 and was allowed to stay until 28 January 2025. F F G 3. Around 8:20 p.m. on 22 January 2025, while Ms You (PW1) G was shopping in Wellcome Supermarket at Ground Floor, No 104 Cheung H H Sha Wan Road, Sham Shui Po, she was listening to music through wireless I earphones connected to the mobile phone inside her right jacket pocket. I J J 4. When she was standing near a shelf holding some eggs, the K defendant walked past her along a narrow aisle and turned left. PW1 had K to move slightly to make room for the defendant to pass. After the L L defendant had walked away from her for about 15 metres, her wireless M headphones stopped transmitting. She checked her jacket pocket and M found her mobile phone missing. The matter was reported to the police. N N O 5. The supermarket’s CCTV cameras captured the defendant O entering the supermarket around 8:22 p.m. and bumping into PW1 while P P walking past her around 8:25 p.m. on 22 January 2025. Q Q R R S S T T U U V V  -3- A A B B Charge 2 C C 6. Around 5:45 pm on 24 January 2025, police officers D D patrolling near the intersection of Cameron Road and Nathan Road in Tsim E Sha Tsui saw the defendant acting furtively. The officers decided to follow E the defendant and put him under observation. F F G 7. Around 8:30 pm, the defendant was seen entering “New G Balance 1960” shop at Ground Floor, Nos 56-58 Tung Choi Street, Mong H H Kok. The defendant left the shop for a short while before returning to it. I At that time, Mr Wong (PW2) was seated on a bench inside the shop trying I on some shoes. The defendant sat behind PW2, stretched his left hand into J J PW2’s right jacket pocket and took out a mobile phone. K K 8. The defendant was intercepted and arrested by the police L L officers when he left the shop with the mobile phone in his hand. M M 9. CCTV cameras in the shop captured the defendant entering N N the shop around 8:33 pm, then sitting behind and leaning towards PW2 O around 8:37 pm on 24 January 2025. O P P Defendant’s Background Q Q 10. The defendant has a clear record. R R S 11. He is a Mongolian national aged 34 years. According to the S defence, he recently got divorced and his 2 daughters, aged 14 and 4 years T T respectively, are being taken care of by his foster parents who are retirees U U V V  -4- A A B B and not in good health. Prior to his commission of the present offences, he C was a salesman in a company selling mining drills with a monthly income C of around USD1,200. D D E Mitigation E F F 12. Defence counsel Ms Chong referred to the sentencing G guidelines for pickpocketing in HKSAR v Ngo Van Huy [2005] 2 HKLRD G 1. She identified the aggravating features in this case as: (1) the defendant H H was a tourist at the time of the offences; (2) the offences were committed I in crowded places; and (3) the properties stolen were mobile phones. I J J 13. On the other hand, Ms Chong pointed out that the defendant, K who has no previous convictions, committed the offences alone and not as K a member of a syndicate without using weapons or tools, and the mobile L L phone the subject matter of Charge 2 has been recovered. M M 14. Defence counsel also said that the defendant’s commission of N N these offences was out of his character, and he resorted to crime simply out O of his frustration with his wife’s decision to divorce him. Given his O background, it is unlikely that he will offend again. P P Q 15. For his guilty pleas, the defendant is entitled to a one-third Q discount in sentence. Ms Chong asks that at least half of the sentence for R R Charge 2 be made to run concurrently with the sentence for Charge 1. S S 16. A mitigation letter from the defendant expressing his remorse T T and tendering his apologies is submitted. U U V V  -5- A A B B C Sentencing considerations C D D 17. According to Ngo Van Huy, the guideline sentence of 12-15 E months’ imprisonment after trial is appropriate for a first-time offender. E F F 18. From the relevant CCTV screen captures, the Court took the G view with both parties’ agreement that the supermarket and the shoe shop G were quite busy and crowded at the relevant times. H H I 19. For Charge 1, I adopt a starting point of 12 months’ I imprisonment, give a three-month enhancement for each of the following J J aggravating features: (1) the defendant came to Hong Kong to commit the K offence; (2) the offence was committed at a place in which the public is at K particular risk; and (3) the property stolen was a mobile phone. Taking L L totality into account, for these 3 aggravating features, the Court will M enhance the starting point by 7½ months. This enhancement will bring the M notional sentence after trial to 19½ months’ imprisonment. N N O 20. Reduced by one-third for his guilty plea, which is the only O mitigating factor, the final sentence for this charge is 13 months’ P P imprisonment. Q Q 21. For Charge 2, I also adopt a starting point of 12 months’ R R imprisonment. The three aggravating features that apply to Charge 1 also S apply to this offence. Another aggravating feature for this charge, for S which 1½ months’ imprisonment will be added, is that the defendant T T committed this offence soon after his commission of Charge 1. However, U U V V  -6- A A B B no enhancement will be made for his theft of a mobile phone in this C incident because it was recovered immediately after it was stolen 1. The C sentence will be enhanced by 7½ months for the other three aggravating D D factors, resulting in an enhanced sentence of 19½ months’ imprisonment E after trial for this charge. E F F 22. His guilty plea will reduce this sentence to 13 months’ G imprisonment. G H H Totality I I 23. The combined sentence of Charges 1 and 2 is 26 months’ J J imprisonment. On account of the totality principle, I order that 7 months K of the sentence of Charge 2 are to be served consecutively to the sentence K of 13 months’ imprisonment on Charge 1, with the remaining part to be L L served concurrently, resulting in a total sentence of 20 months’ M imprisonment for both charges. M N N O O P P Q Q ( Terence Wai ) R R Deputy District Judge S S T T 1 See paragraph 22 of HKSAR v Suen Ping [2024] HKCA 701. U U V V