LI LEUNG v. R.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL

1994, No. 54
(Criminal)

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J U D G M E N T

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Litton, J.A. giving the judgment of the court:

1. This applicant was convicted in January this year before Deputy Judge Wesley Wong and a jury on one charge of robbery. He now seeks leave to appeal against that conviction.

2. The crime occurred in January 1991 at the premises of Hang Fai Electrical Company at Tai Po. This applicant together with five confederates went to those premises. At least one member of the gang was armed with a pistol and at least one was armed with a beef knife. They rounded up the proprietor and others present and forced them to go to the cockloft where they were tied up with wire and robbed of substantial amounts of cash and valuables. The burglar alarm at those premises was activated but when the police van with four officers arrived they were held at gun point and forced to surrender their revolvers. This constituted the facts upon which this applicant stood convicted of robbery.

3. The evidence at the trial against this applicant consisted of the testimony of an accomplice, an inmate of Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre to whom he had boasted of his exploits, plus admissions he made to the police after he was returned from China in February 1993. No grounds of appeal have been put forward. The conviction is safe and satisfactory and the application is dismissed.

4. As to sentence, this applicant was sentenced to 15.years' imprisonment. The circumstances of this crime speak for themselves. This was calculated conduct: robbery effected with deadly weapons, aggravated by what happened when the police arrived. The sentence of 15 years' imprisonment is not excessive nor wrong in principle. The application for leave to appeal against sentence is likewise dismissed.