A A
DCCC 149/2013
B IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE B
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
CRIMINAL CASE NO 149 OF 2013
C C
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D D
HKSAR
E v E
Liang Weilong
F F
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G G
Before: HH Judge S D’Almada Remedios
Date: 18 March 2013 at 12.00 pm
H Present: Mr Felix Tam, SPP(Ag) of the Department of Justice, H
for HKSAR
Mr Damy I K Lou, of Edward Lau, Wong & Lou, assigned
I by the Director of Legal Aid, for the defendant I
Offence: (1) Assisting the passage to Hong Kong of unauthorised
J entrants (協助未獲授權進境者前來香港的旅程) J
(2) Endangering the safety of others at sea (危害他人在
海上的安全)
K K
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L L
Reasons for Sentence
M --------------------- M
N N
1. Defendant you pleaded guilty to two charges before
this court. The lst charge is that of assisting the passage to
O O
Hong Kong of unauthorised entrants, contrary to section
P 37D(1)(a) of the Immigration Ordinance. The 2nd charge is that P
of endangering the safety of others at sea, contrary to section
Q 72 of the Shipping and Port Control Ordinance. Q
R R
2. The facts can simply be stated that on 13 December
2012 at around 2235 hours police officers on board a police
S S
vessel saw your sampan, a motorised sampan, at the south of B
T Beacon Deep Bay, Hong Kong. They then approached you at about T
2308 hours and saw you steering the vessel. They signalled you
U to stop your vessel, but you ignored the police and sped away U
CRT33/18.3.2013/JEP 1 DCCC 149/2013/Sentence
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A A
instead. The police gave chase and approximately 2 minutes later
just south of B Beacon Deep Bay in Hong Kong you were eventually
B B
stopped. Apart from you there were two others on board the
C vessel, namely a Mainland woman and a Vietnamese man. C
D 3. Examination of the vessel by a ship inspector found D
the vessel was unseaworthy. The main hull structure was found in
E E
poor condition, there were no fire-fighting appliances or life-
jackets on board, and there were no navigation lights fitted on
F F
board for night operation.
G G
4. Your solicitor, Mr Damy Lou, has mitigated on your
H behalf today and I have taken into account all that he has had H
to say.
I I
5. You are 21 years of age and are of clear record. You
J J
have been educated up to Primary 5 and was previously a factory
K
worker earning RMB1,000 in China. You committed this offence as K
you were going to be provided with financial remuneration.
L Mr Lou tells me that you did not know the seriousness of the L
offence.
M M
6. I have been submitted two cases by the prosecution to
N N
assist me in sentence, that is the case of HKSAR v Yeung Wui,
CACC 415/2004, and HKSAR v Tang Zhuyan, CACC 223/2010, and your
O O
solicitor has also submitted a further case of HKSAR v Zhong
P Ming Jing, CACC 180/2010. It is clear from the authorities, P
particularly that laid down in Wong Chi Kin, that the general
Q applicable tariff for assisting the passage of others is one of Q
5 years’ imprisonment where the person assisting the passage is
R R
the captain or the person in charge of the vessel, which is what
you were in this instance.
S S
T 7. For the offence of endangering the safety of others at T
sea, in this instance the offence concerned was because the
U vessel was unseaworthy. The vessel is a typical Mainland U
CRT33/18.3.2013/JEP 2 DCCC 149/2013/Sentence
V V
A A
registered fibreglass motorised vessel fitted with an outboard
engine. It is blue in colour, and its overall length is 5.81
B B
metres.
C C
8. There is no evidence in this case of the dangerous
D manner of your driving or of poor sea conditions. As is often in D
these type of cases, there was an attempt by you to escape the
E E
police by speeding away, but in this case you were very shortly
stopped by the police some 2 minutes later. The facts of this
F F
case are very similar to the facts in Tang Zhuyan and I am
G guided by the sentence imposed in that case. G
H 9. In the circumstances, defendant, I shall sentence you H
to the following terms of imprisonment. Defendant, on Charge 1 I
I I
would have taken a starting point of 5 years after trial had I
convicted you after trial. However, you have pleaded guilty to
J J
the charge and the one-third discount is applicable and that
K
term shall be reduced to one of 3 years and 4 months’ K
imprisonment.
L L
10. On Charge 2, had I convicted you after trial I would
M have taken a starting point of 12 months’ imprisonment. Giving M
you full credit for your plea of guilty, that term is reduced to
N N
one of 8 months’ imprisonment.
O O
11. Taking into account the principle of totality, I order
P 2 months of Charge 2 to run consecutive to Charge, 1 making a P
total term of imprisonment 3 years and 6 months’ imprisonment.
Q Q
R R
S S
(S. D’Almada Remedios)
District Judge
T T
U U
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