HKSAR v. SIU KWOK MING, EAGLE

DCCC652/2012

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 652 OF 2012

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to a charge of robbery, contrary to section 10 of the Theft Ordinance before me. You admitted that on 25 April, you entered the Circle K Convenience Store at On Ting Shopping Centre, On Ting Estate, Tuen Mun and robbed the two employees working therein of $1,260.

2.  The facts can quite simply be stated as follows:- at about 3.15 am in the morning, two female victims were working at Circle K, one of them felt you push her shoulder, and when she turned round, she saw you. You immediately declared robbery.  You had a knife in your right hand and a face mask over your face.  You then used your left hand to choke and hold the employees neck.  You then pushed the two female workers into the cashier counters near the cashier machines.  You demanded both of the employees to open the two cashier machines to take out all the cash.  You then demanded them to hand over the money to you. You took the cash and fled.  This was all captured and recorded by the CCTV recording at the Circle K Store.

3.  The case was immediately reported to the police, and at about 3.45, some half an hour later, you were intercepted by police officers in the Tuen Mun area.  The officers went back to your residence and discovered in a refuse room on the floor of your residence clothing similar to that as seen in the CCTV.

4.  When you were arrested and cautioned for robbery, you admitted that you had robbed the Circle K Convenience Store. You then led the officers to a bush near Siu Lun Court and there they recovered the knife and the face mask which you had used in the robbery.  The police recovered $690 cash which had been part of the stolen property.

5.  Mr John Pickavant, your solicitor, has made very full and thorough mitigation on your behalf.  I have taken into account all that he has had to say.  You are a man of 38 years of age.  You have 33 previous convictions on 29 previous attendances to court.  15 of those convictions are related to theft or attempted theft.  Two of those are similar offences of robbery, to which you were sentenced in August 2002 at the High Court to a total of 6 years’ imprisonment. Your last release from prison was on 17 September 2011.

6.  Mr Pickavant has accepted that your record is a fairly bad record.  However, what he has told me is that since you came out of prison in September 2011, your life has in fact had a major change.  You are married and you had a stable and happy job as a painter in Tsing Yi.  Since then you had kept out of trouble and had contributed to your mother and your wife’s living.  However, after three months of working, you were scorched by a blowtorch through no fault of your own, and thus had to stop working.  Your boss told you to take time off and paid you a small sum.  After that, you had little or no income.  You then reverted into your old pattern and committed this offence.

7.  Your very neatly handwritten letter of mitigation has been read and interpreted to me.  I can see from that that you are deeply remorseful for this crime.  You have vowed to set out for a new life after you are released from prison and to contribute to society and obey the law.

8.  Mr Pickavant has rightly referred me to the guideline case of Mo Kwong Sang v The Queen, armed robbery with knives.  Mr Pickavant recognises this is a nasty robbery and of course recognises that your greatest mitigating factor is your plea of guilty.

9.  Defendant, the starting point for robbery with a knife is one of 5 years’ imprisonment after trial.  If a robbery also involves an invasion of business premises such as this Circle K Store, then a sentence of 6 years is appropriate.  If there is any physical violence which includes actions such as tying up which is used on the victims, then the Court of Appeal suggested a sentence of 7 years should be considered.

10.  In this case, you did use physical violence on one of the female employees by using your left hand to hold and choke her around her neck.  I note however from the facts that there were no injuries reported by her. 

11.  In those circumstances, I consider then a sentence of 6 and a half years’ imprisonment would have been appropriate had I convicted you after trial.  Giving you full credit for your plea of guilty, I reduce that term to one of 4 years and 4 months’ imprisonment, to which you are so sentenced.