HKSAR v. YEUNG SAN MING

HCMA475/99

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

(APPELLATE JURISDICTION)

MAGISTRACY APPEAL NO.475 OF 1999

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J U D G M E N T

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1. The Appellant was charged with four counts of offences. The first two were thefts, the third one was possession of a forged Hong Kong Identity Card and the fourth one was using a forged Hong Kong Identity Card.

2. The Appellant appeared before the Acting Principal Magistrate in Tuen Mun Magistracy on 27th April 1999. He pleaded guilty to all the offences. At the time, the Appellant was represented by the Duty lawyer. The final sentence imposed for these four offences was 16 months, to run consecutively to the current sentence served by the Appellant. The Appellant now seeks to appeal against the sentence.

3. The facts of the case disclosed that the Appellant was first stopped as he was suspected to have stolen from a customer at a shop in Tuen Mun Town Plaza, then it was discovered that he has stolen the items in relation to the second charge. The Appellant also admitted to the police that his identity card was a forged one and he had used that to apply to the bank for a bank card. These formed the basis of the 3rd and 4th charges respectively.

4. The Appellant was not an illegal immigrant. He used a forged card in order to avoid detection as he was wanted in a burglary case. The Appellant had seven previous convictions and five of them were theft related. According to his written submission, the Appellant himself stated that the Magistrate had been lenient with him, but still he asked for a further reduction.

5. Having read the transcript and the Reasons for Sentence, I cannot in any way fault the reasoning of the learned Magistrate. I agree with his observation that the use of a forged identity card to avoid detection by the police for an outstanding charge was an aggravating factor. I see no ground to interfere with the overall sentence and orders made.

6. I shall dismiss the appeal accordingly.