A DCCC920/2012 A
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE
B HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION B
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 920 OF 2012
C C
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D HKSAR D
v.
E E
Ge Xufeng
F F
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G Before: H H Judge S. D’Almada Remedios G
Date: 30 November 2012 at 11.23 am
Present: Ms Chan Sze-yan, PP, of the Department of Justice, for
H HKSAR H
Mr Simon K.F. Wong, of Messrs Tang, Wong & Cheung,
I
assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the I
Defendant
Offence: (1) Robbery (搶劫罪)
J (2) Possession of an offensive weapon in a public place J
(在公眾地方管有致擊性武器)
K (3) Breach of condition of stay (違反逗留條件) K
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Reasons for Sentence
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1. Defendant, you pleaded guilty to three charges before
O this court. The three charges are: robbery, contrary to section O
10 of the Theft Ordinance; possession of an offensive weapon in
P a public place, contrary to section 33(1) of the Public Order P
Ordinance; and breach of condition of stay, contrary to section
Q Q
41 of the Immigration Ordinance.
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2. At just before midnight on 16 August 2012 you rushed
S
towards the victim and grabbed her mobile phone out of her hand. S
She shouted, “Robbery”. You then used your hand to hit the left
T side of her face and ran away. She chased after you and kept T
shouting, “Robbery”. Soon two passers-by heard her and subdued
U you. Very shortly after that, two police officers who were near U
CRT33/30.11.2012/KMN 1 DCCC920/2012/Sentence
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A the location came to the assistance of the victim and the A
passers-by. As a result you were arrested.
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3. Upon a body search, you were found to possess an 18
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centimetre long knife which was kept in the right front pocket
of your track suit. At that time you had overstayed in Hong
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Kong. You were a two-way permit holder from China and had
E overstayed by five days. You were permitted to stay in Hong Kong E
from 6 August 2012 for 7 days. Therefore, at the time you
F committed the offence you were an over-stayer. The robbery took F
place at Shanghai Street in Kowloon. The victim recovered her
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iPhone after you were subdued.
H H
4. You are from mainland China, aged 33 and are of clear
I
record,. Your solicitor, Mr Simon Wong, has made full mitigation I
on your behalf and I have taken into account all he has had to
J say. You are living cohabiting with your girlfriend in China. J
You both have a 4-year-old son. You are the sole breadwinner of
K your immediate family and also of your parents. K
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5. You were employed as a factory worker in China.
However, in view of your low education you became unemployed and
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during your unemployment you made a decision to try to go to
N Macau to make some money from gambling. However, having lost all N
your money you then came to Hong Kong as a visitor, on 6 August.
O As a result of losing all your money, you then decided to make O
some quick money by stealing mobile phones to sell them. That
P P
is, you say, the reason why you committed this offence.
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6. You have written me a letter setting out your remorse
R and have said that you did not intend to hurt the victim. The R
knife you said was for your self-defence in Hong Kong this is
S not a valid defence unless you were in immediate danger. S
T T
7. I accept that the knife was not used in the robbery.
The facts of this case do not fall therefore within the
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A sentencing guidelines of Mo Kwong Sang. On the facts of this A
case, there is some authority in Wong Ching Chiu, CACC 302 of
B 2006, and CACC 174/2003 of HKSAR v Ting Chiu, in which the Court B
of Appeal have stated that a starting point of 4 years’
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imprisonment is appropriate for robbery without a weapon.
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8. In those circumstances, defendant, I shall take that as
E a starting point for this charge of robbery. E
F 9. Defendant, giving you full credit for your plea of F
guilty that term of 4 years for Charge 1 shall be reduced to
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2 years 8 months’ imprisonment.
H 10. On Charge 2, for the offence of possession of an H
offensive weapon, had I convicted you after trial I would have
I I
taken a starting point of 6 months’ imprisonment. Giving you
full credit for your plea of guilty that sentence is reduced to
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4 months’ imprisonment.
K K
11. On Charge 3, I sentence you to 7 days’ imprisonment.
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12. In considering the principle of totality and the fact
M that Charge 2 is a separate and distinct offence, I order 2 M
months of Charge 2 to run consecutive to Charge 1. The remainder
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of the sentence and the sentence of Charge 3 is to run
concurrent. Therefore, the total term will be 2 years 10 months’
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imprisonment.
P P
Q Q
(S. D’Almada Remedios)
District Judge
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