THE QUEEN v. NGAN CHUN YEE AND OTHERS

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SENTENCE

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Roberts, C. J. -

1. This is an application for leave to appeal against sentence by the three applicants, who were convicted of possession of one hundred forged $1,000 Chartered Bank banknotes.

2. The applicants are aged 47, 43 and 32 respectively. All pleaded not guilty at the trial. The first applicant has nineteen previous convictions, though they were all of a different nature from possession of forged banknotes. The second applicant had no previous convictions.. The third applicant had four previous convictions and has served a sentence of imprisonment as, indeed, the first applicant had done.

3. Our attention has been drawn to a number of recent cases, in particular to Lam Ki-wan⁽¹⁾ in which a number of earlier decisions on the appropriate sentence for this offence had been considered.

4. It appears to us, from an examination of the various authorities cited, that the sentences of 6 years, 4½ and 6 years imposed were higher than past practice has provided for this offence. In view of those cases, we have decided that the proper course is to allow the applications for leave to appeal against sentence, to quash the sentences of 6 years, 4½and 6 years and to substitute therefor sentences of 4 years, 3 years and 4 years' imprisonment, which accord with the tariff for such offences.

5. The lesser sentence imposed on the second applicant takes into account, not only the fact that he has a clear record, whereas the other two applicants had previous convictions, but also that the trial judge must have taken the view, since the large differential could not be explained purely by their respective criminal records, that the second applicant's part in the events was a lesser one than that played by the first and third applicants.

6. We were informed by counsel for the Crown that a large nunber of forged banknotes have come into the possession of the police in the course of this year. Certainly there have been before this court an unusually large number of appeals concerned with sentences for uttering or possession of forged banknotes during the past few months.

7. We should like to say that although we felt it proper to reduce these sentences because of the previously prevailing tariff for them, we consider that judges should consider increasing the tariff to the sort of level which was applied by the trial judge in this case, so that in future we would not be inclined to interfere with a sentence of 6 years' imprisonment in a case of this nature, following a plea of not guilty and a conviction.

(1)    Cr. App. 426/84.