HKSAR v. NGUYEN THI MEN AND OTHERS

HCMA 52/2011

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

MAGISTRACY APPEAL NO. 52 OF 2011

(ON APPEAL FROM STCC 6356/2010)

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JUDGMENT

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1.  Each appellant was convicted by a magistrate, on her own plea, of three offences: two contrary to the Registration of Persons Ordinance, Cap. 177, namely, using a forged identity card contrary to s. 7A(1) and possession of a forged identity card contrary to s.7(A); and one of remaining in Hong Kong without the authority of the Director of Immigration after having landed unlawfully contrary to s. 38(1)(b) of the Immigration Ordinance, Cap. 115 .

2.  Each appellant was sentenced to undergo imprisonment for a period of 15 months on the first charge, 12 months on the second charge and 15 months on the third charge.  The sentences on the first and second charges were ordered to run concurrently: seven months of the sentence on charge 3 was ordered to be served consecutively to those sentences, aggregating 22 months imprisonment.

3.  Each appellant appeals the sentence and asks for a reduction of sentence on the basis that she wishes to return home.

4.  Each had sneaked into Hong Kong from the mainland illegally in September 2010 and had purchased a Hong Kong identity card at a cost of $8,000.00. That identity card had been produced for the purpose of securing employment at the establishment where each had been apprehended.

5.  The magistrate imposed well-established sentences, appropriate after a plea of guilty, for each of the offences. The order that he made to ensure an appropriate total sentence was proper.  He found, correctly, that there were no mitigating features or strong humanitarian grounds personal to either appellant.

6.  Each appeal is dismissed.