HKSAR v. LEE KA HO

DCCC1010/2011

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 1010 OF 2011

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to a charge of ill treatment of a child, being a person in charge of a child, contrary to section 27(1) of the Offences Against the Person Ordinance, Cap.212 of laws of Hong Kong, the particulars being that you, together with Wong Ngan-sze Carmen, between 1 July this year and 30 July of this year wilfully assaulted and ill treated X in a manner likely to cause X unnecessary suffering or injury to his health.

2.  The maximum sentence for this offence on conviction on indictment is a term of 10 years’ imprisonment.

3.  The summary of facts which you have agreed establish that the mother of X, your co-defendant, whom the prosecution no longer seeks to proceed against, was cohabiting with you.

4.  You are not the natural father of X.

5.  On 1 July of this year, X moved to your premises to live with yourself and your cohabitant,  X’s mother.

6.  On 30 July, police were alerted to the premises, as it was reported that X had been left alone there.  When they arrived there, they found X alone in the premises with bruises all over his body. 

7.  The mother was eventually located, who told the police that she had gone out in order to buy medicine for X’s injuries.

8.  X was taken to hospital where he remained for a period of some two weeks.

9.  When you were located by the police, you told them that you used a hanger to beat X and fisted him for lying.

10.  The medical findings on X included multiple recent and old bruises all over his body, bruised and swollen cheeks and neck, scratch marks on his face, tender limbs with bruises of different ages - the size of the bruises varying from 2 by

11.  When X was interviewed by the police, he told them that he only came to know you since he moved to your premises on 1 July, since when you beat him regularly.  You had used a wire hanger to beat his chest, back and limbs.  You punched him in the head, chest and back.  You even bit his ears and nose.

12.  X further told the doctor that in addition to this, you even pulled his penis, pulled his hair, kicked him, and on one occasion, pushed him into a toilet tub.

13.  The cruelty that you inflicted on this young boy, only 8 years and 4 months at the time, I find to be beyond belief. 

14.  This was sustained brutality over the course of the month of July, which the photographs of the injuries to X pay testament to.  They are, quite simply, shocking photographs.

15.  Fortunately, no thanks to you, X, I am told, has now recovered from his injuries and was able to return to school this last September.

16.  You are 28 years of age and have a number of previous convictions, although it is right to say that this is your first offence relating to violence.

17.  Very little has been put before me by way of mitigation on your behalf, save that you have pleaded guilty and feel remorse for what you have done.

18.  A letter that you have written to the court has been put before me, in which you also express regret for committing this wrongdoing.

19.  You put the death of your father in early July as being the reason for you committing this offence, but I struggle to see how the death of your father could have had anything to do with this behaviour.

20.  Courts clearly have a primary duty to ensure the safety and protection of children, and behaviour such as this will under no circumstances be tolerated.

21.  In sentencing you, I take account of the fact that this was not an isolated incident.  This violence continued throughout the whole month of July, when this child was subjected to repeated beatings by you. Also, there appears to be no reason for your behaviour.  Rather, this was wicked, gratuitous violence to a child to whom you were completely unrelated.  These I find to be aggravating features.

22.  There are no guidelines for sentences in relation to offences such as this, nor can there be, as each case turns very much on its own facts.  However, it seems to me that society insists that the courts should hand down severe penalties for offences of this nature in the discharge of its primary duty to protect children and to serve as a deterrent to others from engaging in such behaviour.  Accordingly, I adopt a starting point of 4 years’ imprisonment.

23.  I am going to increase that starting point to one of 5 years’ imprisonment to reflect the aggravating features to which I have just referred.

24.  You are entitled to a discount of one-third to take account of your plea of guilty, which I will give you, arriving at a sentence of 3 years and 4 months imprisonment.