HKSAR v. LEUNG FUNG

DCCC214/2011

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 214 OF 2011

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  Leung Fung, you have been convicted on your own pleas on one charge of burglary, one charge of assault with intent to resist or prevent lawful apprehension, and one charge of unlawful remaining.

2.  You have admitted that on 18 January this year, you entered Hong Kong illegally by boat from the mainland, bringing with you a pair of gloves and a torch.  You have also admitted that you came to Hong Kong to find some money.  That same night, you committed the burglary that is the subject of the 1st charge at the home of a couple with two young daughters aged 2 and 4.  It is clear that you gained entry to their home by climbing up to the 1st floor and forcing entry through the French windows of the bedroom of the four-year-old daughter.  At that stage, the whole family were asleep in bed.

3.  At about 1.20 pm, the child’s father was woken by a noise under his bed.  He found you hiding there.  He then chased you into his four-year-old daughter’s bedroom where you tried to escape through the French windows.  There was then a struggle between him and you in the bedroom when he tried to apprehend you.  While the struggle was continuing, the child’s mother took her daughter out of the bedroom and went to seek help from their neighbours and the police.  The neighbours came to the flat and assisted in detaining you until the police arrived.  When the police arrived, they arrested you.

4.  It became clear that you had already stolen the father’s wallet before he discovered you under his bed. 

5.  The father was taken to hospital and found to have bruises to his knee and abrasions on his chest, neck and scrotum. 

6.  This was a burglary of a very serious kind, breaking into the home of a family while they were asleep at night.  One does not need to elaborate on how disturbing such an offence would be to the occupants of the flat, particularly to the four-year-old daughter who must have woken to find her father struggling with you in her bedroom. 

7.  This is the third time you have entered Hong Kong illegally and the second occasion you have committed another offence while here.  Despite the fact you have been deported twice, you returned again on this occasion.  The sentences imposed by the courts must make it clear both to you and to others who are tempted to enter Hong Kong to commit burglary that these offences will be severely dealt with.

8.  I am satisfied that the appropriate starting points are as follows: on the burglary charge, 3 years’ imprisonment; on the charge of assault with intent to resist or prevent lawful apprehension, 6 months’ imprisonment; and bearing in mind the fact that this is the third time you have entered Hong Kong illegally, on the charge of unauthorised remaining, 30 months’ imprisonment.

9.  There are no mitigating circumstances beyond your plea of guilty, for which you are entitled to the usual discount of one-third.  Bearing in mind the appropriate overall sentence for these three offences, I sentence you as follows: on Charge 1, 2 years’ imprisonment; on Charge 2, 4 months’ imprisonment to run consecutively to the sentence on Charge 1; on Charge 3, 20 months’ imprisonment to run consecutively to the sentences on Charges 1 and 2.  That means a total sentence of 4 years’ imprisonment.

10.  I wish to commend the father, Mr Wightman, for his courage in tackling you that night and for the neighbours, Cheung Kwok-kin and Sit Kwok-yu, for assisting in detaining you.  By acting as they did, they may well have saved other families from being the victims of similar incidents.  I hope my remarks will be passed by the police to Mr Wightman and to Cheung Kwok‑kin and Sit Kwok-yu.