A A
DCCC909/2012
B B
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
C CRIMINAL CASE NO. 909 OF 2012 C
D
---------------------- D
HKSAR
E E
v.
F Ngo Van Nam F
G ---------------------- G
Before: H H Judge Geiser
H Date: 9 November 2012 at 12.39 pm H
Present: Ms Lisa Go, PP of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR
Mr Philip Li, of Ho Tse Wai, Philip Li & Partners,
I assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the I
Defendant
J Offence: (1) Robbery (搶劫罪) J
(2) Remaining in Hong Kong without the authority of
the Director of Immigration after having landed
K unlawfully in Hong Kong (在香港非法入境後未得入境事務處 K
處長授權而留在香港)
L L
---------------------
M Reasons for Sentence M
N
--------------------- N
O 1. Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to two charges, the O
first being an offence of robbery, contrary to section 10 of the
P Theft Ordinance, Cap.210, Laws of Hong Kong, the particulars P
being that you on 13 March of this year at Fu Tei Road in Tuen
Q Q
Mun, New Territories, together with two others robbed Lio Man-
kin of a wristwatch, a mobile phone, a ring and cash of
R R
HK$1,400. The 2nd charge is an offence of illegally remaining in
S Hong Kong, contrary to section 38(1)(b) of the Immigration S
Ordinance, Cap.115, Laws of Hong Kong, the short particulars
T being that you landed here unlawfully on 25 July 2012 without T
the permission of the Director of Immigration.
U U
CRT24/9.11.2012/SY 1 DCCC909/2012/Sentence
V V
A A
2. The Summary of Facts which you have admitted are quite
B B
simple and establish that you around 10 pm at night, together
C with two of your friends, also Vietnamese people, hired a taxi C
and told the driver, the victim, to take you to Fu Tei Road in
D Tuen Mun. When the taxi reached its destination, one of your D
friends grabbed the victim’s neck from behind, brandished a
E E
knife and pointed it towards his neck and declared robbery.
F F
3. You sat in the left back seat and told the driver not
G to move whilst the one sitting in the front passenger seat told G
the victim to take out all the money. Cash was taken together
H with the victim’s watch, mobile phone and a silver ring, you all H
then fled.
I I
4. It was on 25 July of this year, some four months or
J J
thereabouts later, that you were intercepted and stopped outside
K
Kwai Fong MTR Station. You failed to produce any identification K
and your illegal status in Hong Kong was confirmed. You told the
L police that you had sneaked into Hong Kong two days beforehand, L
and you also told them that you had committed the robbery, being
M the subject matter of Charge 1, way back in March. You gave them M
details of this robbery.
N N
5. You are 26 years of age. You come from Vietnam where
O O
you live with your family and I am told that you have no
P previous convictions in Hong Kong. P
Q 6. Mr Li, on your behalf, has stressed two matters for me Q
to take account of in sentencing you, first of all is your plea
R R
of guilty; and secondly, the fact that you volunteered the
information to the police regarding the robbery that had taken
S S
place in March, in the absence of which your involvement in this
T robbery would never have come to light. I will take both of T
these matters into account in sentencing you.
U U
CRT24/9.11.2012/SY 2 DCCC909/2012/Sentence
V V
A A
7. Obviously, taxi robberies are extremely serious. The
B B
courts have said time and again that taxi drivers are entitled
C to look to the courts for protection; they are vulnerable and C
particularly so at night.
D D
8. In the circumstances of this case, whilst I accept
E E
that it was not you who displayed the knife to the victim, this
was a joint enterprise between the three of you and you are all
F F
equally culpable. This must have been a frightening experience
G for the victim in this case, it is only fortunate that no G
injuries were suffered.
H H
9. Regarding sentence, for the 1st charge, the case of R
I I
v Tran Van Anh [1993] 2 HKCLR 122, is instructive. In that case
the taxi driver’s hair was pulled and a sharp weapon pointed at
J J
his throat. He sustained no injuries and his wallet was taken
K
containing HK$550. The trial judge took a starting point of 8 K
years’ imprisonment. The Court of Appeal reduced the starting
L point to one of 6 years but in doing so went on to say that taxi L
drivers are particularly vulnerable to robbery, especially those
M who ply for hire late at night or in the early hours of the M
morning, or who pick up or drop passengers in quiet locations
N N
and that henceforward, sentences of 7 years’ imprisonment after
a contested trial would be justified for offences similar to
O O
those of the present case.
P P
10. In another case Secretary for Justice v Tso Tsz Kin
Q [2004] 2 HKC 139, the taxi driver’s neck was grabbed and a pair Q
of scissors pointed at him. The trial judge adopted a starting
R R
point of 6 years’ imprisonment but indicated that 7 years could
have been adopted on the facts of that case.
S S
T 11. Taking everything into account, I will adopt a T
starting point of 7 years’ imprisonment on the 1st charge of
U U
CRT24/9.11.2012/SY 3 DCCC909/2012/Sentence
V V
A A
robbery. I will discount that by one-third, to take account of
your plea of guilty, coming to 56 months’ imprisonment on Charge
B B
1.
C C
12. I will further discount this by 3 months, to take
D account of the fact that you volunteered the information D
regarding the details of this robbery to the police, coming to
E E
53 months’ imprisonment on Charge 1.
F F
13. Regarding Charge 2, the normal sentence is one of 15
G months’ imprisonment and I see no reason to depart from that G
sentence. Under normal circumstances, this should be ordered to
H run consecutively to the sentence on Charge 1, but due to the H
question of totality of sentence, I order 10 months of the
I I
sentence of the 15 months to run consecutively to the sentence
on Charge 1, coming to an overall sentence of 5 years and 3
J J
months’ imprisonment in all.
K K
L L
M H H Judge Geiser M
District Judge
N N
O O
P P
Q Q
R R
S S
T T
U U
CRT24/9.11.2012/SY 4 DCCC909/2012/Sentence
V V
A A
DCCC909/2012
B B
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
C CRIMINAL CASE NO. 909 OF 2012 C
D
---------------------- D
HKSAR
E E
v.
F Ngo Van Nam F
G ---------------------- G
Before: H H Judge Geiser
H Date: 9 November 2012 at 12.39 pm H
Present: Ms Lisa Go, PP of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR
Mr Philip Li, of Ho Tse Wai, Philip Li & Partners,
I assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the I
Defendant
J Offence: (1) Robbery (搶劫罪) J
(2) Remaining in Hong Kong without the authority of
the Director of Immigration after having landed
K unlawfully in Hong Kong (在香港非法入境後未得入境事務處 K
處長授權而留在香港)
L L
---------------------
M Reasons for Sentence M
N
--------------------- N
O 1. Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to two charges, the O
first being an offence of robbery, contrary to section 10 of the
P Theft Ordinance, Cap.210, Laws of Hong Kong, the particulars P
being that you on 13 March of this year at Fu Tei Road in Tuen
Q Q
Mun, New Territories, together with two others robbed Lio Man-
kin of a wristwatch, a mobile phone, a ring and cash of
R R
HK$1,400. The 2nd charge is an offence of illegally remaining in
S Hong Kong, contrary to section 38(1)(b) of the Immigration S
Ordinance, Cap.115, Laws of Hong Kong, the short particulars
T being that you landed here unlawfully on 25 July 2012 without T
the permission of the Director of Immigration.
U U
CRT24/9.11.2012/SY 1 DCCC909/2012/Sentence
V V
A A
2. The Summary of Facts which you have admitted are quite
B B
simple and establish that you around 10 pm at night, together
C with two of your friends, also Vietnamese people, hired a taxi C
and told the driver, the victim, to take you to Fu Tei Road in
D Tuen Mun. When the taxi reached its destination, one of your D
friends grabbed the victim’s neck from behind, brandished a
E E
knife and pointed it towards his neck and declared robbery.
F F
3. You sat in the left back seat and told the driver not
G to move whilst the one sitting in the front passenger seat told G
the victim to take out all the money. Cash was taken together
H with the victim’s watch, mobile phone and a silver ring, you all H
then fled.
I I
4. It was on 25 July of this year, some four months or
J J
thereabouts later, that you were intercepted and stopped outside
K
Kwai Fong MTR Station. You failed to produce any identification K
and your illegal status in Hong Kong was confirmed. You told the
L police that you had sneaked into Hong Kong two days beforehand, L
and you also told them that you had committed the robbery, being
M the subject matter of Charge 1, way back in March. You gave them M
details of this robbery.
N N
5. You are 26 years of age. You come from Vietnam where
O O
you live with your family and I am told that you have no
P previous convictions in Hong Kong. P
Q 6. Mr Li, on your behalf, has stressed two matters for me Q
to take account of in sentencing you, first of all is your plea
R R
of guilty; and secondly, the fact that you volunteered the
information to the police regarding the robbery that had taken
S S
place in March, in the absence of which your involvement in this
T robbery would never have come to light. I will take both of T
these matters into account in sentencing you.
U U
CRT24/9.11.2012/SY 2 DCCC909/2012/Sentence
V V
A A
7. Obviously, taxi robberies are extremely serious. The
B B
courts have said time and again that taxi drivers are entitled
C to look to the courts for protection; they are vulnerable and C
particularly so at night.
D D
8. In the circumstances of this case, whilst I accept
E E
that it was not you who displayed the knife to the victim, this
was a joint enterprise between the three of you and you are all
F F
equally culpable. This must have been a frightening experience
G for the victim in this case, it is only fortunate that no G
injuries were suffered.
H H
9. Regarding sentence, for the 1st charge, the case of R
I I
v Tran Van Anh [1993] 2 HKCLR 122, is instructive. In that case
the taxi driver’s hair was pulled and a sharp weapon pointed at
J J
his throat. He sustained no injuries and his wallet was taken
K
containing HK$550. The trial judge took a starting point of 8 K
years’ imprisonment. The Court of Appeal reduced the starting
L point to one of 6 years but in doing so went on to say that taxi L
drivers are particularly vulnerable to robbery, especially those
M who ply for hire late at night or in the early hours of the M
morning, or who pick up or drop passengers in quiet locations
N N
and that henceforward, sentences of 7 years’ imprisonment after
a contested trial would be justified for offences similar to
O O
those of the present case.
P P
10. In another case Secretary for Justice v Tso Tsz Kin
Q [2004] 2 HKC 139, the taxi driver’s neck was grabbed and a pair Q
of scissors pointed at him. The trial judge adopted a starting
R R
point of 6 years’ imprisonment but indicated that 7 years could
have been adopted on the facts of that case.
S S
T 11. Taking everything into account, I will adopt a T
starting point of 7 years’ imprisonment on the 1st charge of
U U
CRT24/9.11.2012/SY 3 DCCC909/2012/Sentence
V V
A A
robbery. I will discount that by one-third, to take account of
your plea of guilty, coming to 56 months’ imprisonment on Charge
B B
1.
C C
12. I will further discount this by 3 months, to take
D account of the fact that you volunteered the information D
regarding the details of this robbery to the police, coming to
E E
53 months’ imprisonment on Charge 1.
F F
13. Regarding Charge 2, the normal sentence is one of 15
G months’ imprisonment and I see no reason to depart from that G
sentence. Under normal circumstances, this should be ordered to
H run consecutively to the sentence on Charge 1, but due to the H
question of totality of sentence, I order 10 months of the
I I
sentence of the 15 months to run consecutively to the sentence
on Charge 1, coming to an overall sentence of 5 years and 3
J J
months’ imprisonment in all.
K K
L L
M H H Judge Geiser M
District Judge
N N
O O
P P
Q Q
R R
S S
T T
U U
CRT24/9.11.2012/SY 4 DCCC909/2012/Sentence
V V