A A
DCCC1311/2011
B B
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
C CRIMINAL CASE NO. 1311 OF 2011 C
D
---------------------- D
HKSAR
E E
v.
F Wong Kin-chung F
G ---------------------- G
Before: H H Judge Geiser
H Date: 13 February 2012 at 12.08 pm H
Present: Ms Winsome Chan, SPP, of the Department of Justice,
for HKSAR
I Mr Albert Cheung, instructed by Messrs Kitty So & I
Tong, for the Defendant
J Offence: Possession of arms without a licence (無牌管有槍械) J
---------------------
K K
Reasons for Sentence
L L
---------------------
M M
1. Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of
N possession of arms without a licence, contrary to section 13 of N
the Firearms and Ammunition Ordinance, Cap.238, Laws of Hong
O Kong, the particulars being that you on 9 August of last year at O
the private car search area of Customs & Excise Department,
P P
Shenzhen Bay Port Hong Kong Port area, Hong Kong, had in your
possession two stun guns without a licence.
Q Q
R 2. The brief facts which you have agreed speak for R
themselves and indeed establish that at the relevant place and
S on the date in question, these two stun guns were found in the S
luggage compartment of your car.
T T
U U
CRT24/13.2.2012/ML 1 DCCC1311/2011/Sentence
V V
A A
3. The guns were examined and were found to be capable of
generating peak-to-peak pulsating voltage of 339.15 kilovolts
B B
and 347.77 kilovolts respectively.
C C
4. The telecommunications engineer of the Operations and
D Services Support Division of the Communications Branch of the D
Hong Kong Police, a Mr Tsang Wing-kei, has provided two
E E
evaluation reports on the respective devices and has also been
called to give expert testimony this morning.
F F
G 5. The testimony that he has given and the information G
contained in his reports are very technical, but the essence of
H his testimony is that the power output of these two devices is H
very much on the high side.
I I
6. However, having said that, I do accept, as has been
J J
put forward on your behalf, that these two stun guns were kept
K
by you for self-defence purposes, there being no evidence that K
you intended to use them for any unlawful purpose. The devices
L had never been used by you in the past, and at the time they L
were found in your car, they were not hidden in any way, and
M indeed, at the time they had not even been charged. M
N N
7. You are 50 years of age, divorced, and whilst you do
have four previous convictions, you have kept out of trouble for
O O
the past 25 years. You have worked hard to establish your
P interior design business, which I am told you started in 2000 P
and which had an annual turnover of about $3 million.
Q Q
8. As a result of your committing this offence, I am told
R R
that that business has now been severely compromised.
S S
9. There are no guidelines for offences of this nature;
T each case depends very much on its own facts. T
U U
CRT24/13.2.2012/ML 2 DCCC1311/2011/Sentence
V V
A A
10. Whilst I have accepted that there is no evidence that
you had these devices in your possession for an unlawful
B B
purpose, the fact remains that the velocity output of these
C devices is high, and in the wrong hands, are capable of C
incapacitating and immobilising a human subject.
D D
11. Taking everything into account, I will adopt a
E E
starting point of 2½ years’ imprisonment.
F F
12. I will discount that sentence by one-third to take
G account of your plea of guilty, coming to 20 months’ G
imprisonment.
H H
I I
J J
H H Judge Geiser
District Judge
K K
L L
M M
N N
O O
P P
Q Q
R R
S S
T T
U U
CRT24/13.2.2012/ML 3 DCCC1311/2011/Sentence
V V