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HCCC 97/2016
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO 97 OF 2016
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| Date: |
20 June 2017 at 3.12 pm |
| Present: |
Mr Giles Surman, leading Ms Grace Chan, on fiat, for HKSAR
Ms Sylvia S Y Tung, instructed by S T Poon & Wong, for the accused
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| Offence: |
Attempted rape (企圖強姦) |
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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case
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COURT:
Mr Kong, the jury, after a contested trial, have found you unanimously guilty of the charge of attempted rape.
The circumstances which gave rise to this charge and your arrest are, to my mind, very serious. Whilst the offence of attempted rape is always serious, the offence in your case is, to my mind, aggravated by a clear and obvious degree of premeditation.
Having sat through and seen the evidence in this matter over a number of days, it is readily apparent to me that your victim was, quite obviously, significantly influenced by alcohol for a very substantial period of the time that you and two other colleagues were with her at a bar in Causeway Bay. It must have been obvious to you, as it was obvious to your colleagues, that she was becoming more and more incapacitated.
The fact that you then determined not to in any way assist her to return to her home but, callously and deliberately, took her in a taxi to the Four Seasons Hotel in Central, to my mind, that course of conduct clearly indicates to me that you had intended to have intercourse with her or sexual relations with her on that morning. There can be no other explanation for your conduct.
It is to my mind apparent from the material that there was no obvious indication by this victim that she was in any way interested in you in a sexual manner. It is also obvious to me, from the evidence, that you took advantage of the fact that she was newly employed to insist upon her not going home as she had intended after you had played cards, but going out to a nightclub where, quite obviously, she was provided with large quantities of alcohol.
The evidence of the victim clearly indicates to me that had she not put up the struggle that she did, you may well have succeeded in raping her. You will not be sentenced for that offence, obviously, you will be sentenced for your attempt.
I heard it said on your behalf that you are 31 years of age now, a person of good character. You have recently married and you have a young child. Be that as it may and be that there will be other persons who will suffer the consequences of your behavior, I cannot take those into account in any significant degree when imposing the sentence that I do.
There can be no question that a custodial sentence must be imposed. The question for me is how much.
Taking all of the matters into account, I have determined that the appropriate sentence is one of 4 years’ imprisonment and that is the sentence that I impose.
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