HKSAR v. WONG KA FAI

DCCC736/2010

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 736 OF 2010

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  The defendant has pleaded guilty to four charges, two charges of theft, a charge of using a motor vehicle without insurance and a charge of forgery of documents, namely, two licence registration plates.

2.  The 1st theft offence was committed on 16 May and involved the theft of a light goods vehicle.  I am told that the date of manufacture of that vehicle was 1999.  The 2nd offence related to the use of that motor vehicle without insurance.  The 3rd charge related to the use of that vehicle with registration number plate which did not belong to the vehicle, and the 4th charge related to a theft of 11 metal drainage covers and the stolen vehicle in the 1st charge was used to carry out that offence.

3.  The facts admitted by the defendant disclosed that in relation to the 1st charge, at some time on 16 May, the defendant stole the white ISUZU light goods vehicle which was parked in the loading area of Sha Kok Estate in Sha Tin.  The vehicle was owned by a company called Times Logistics.  The defendant entered the vehicle, he prized open the ignition switch and then used one of his own keys to start the vehicle which he then drove away.

4.  Obviously the vehicle was uninsured for use by the defendant.  Some time after the theft, the defendant purchased a pair of vehicle registration plates which he affixed to the vehicle to cover up the genuine registration plates. 

5.  On 17 May, the defendant drove the stolen vehicle to the ground floor of 38 New Praya, Kennedy Town, in Sai Wan in Hong Kong.  He parked the vehicle and got out and loaded 11 drainage covers he had located outside that address onto the vehicle, the property belonged to the Urban Management Property Ltd.  He drove away from the scene and he intended ultimately to sell the drainage covers with the assistance of some accomplices. Apparently, he had identified the drainage covers as items that he would be able to steal on a previous occasion. 

6.  He was arrested in Tung Leung Road in Tai Po on the morning of 17 May and he was seated in the driver’s seat of the stolen vehicle and the 11 drainage covers were still in the goods compartment of the vehicle. His accomplices were arrested at the same location, at the same time and they were sitting in another vehicle, another goods vehicle which was parked next to the stolen vehicle. 

7.  Before the arrest, the defendant was about to organize the transfer of the 11 drainage covers from one vehicle to the other, the defendant having previously rented the second vehicle from a trading company.  After his arrest, the defendant voluntarily led the police to locations where he had stolen the vehicle from and where the drainage covers came from.

8.  The defendant has a number of previous court appearances.  He has appeared in court on 11 previous occasions.  He started his criminal activity in 1993 and his last court appearance in 2009 was in July when he was sentenced to imprisonment for common assault and claiming to be a triad. I note that the offences cover a wide range of offences, theft, going equipped, burglary, drugs, assault, member of a triad society, wounding and he has been to prison on a number of previous occasions. 

9.  In mitigation, it is urged upon me that the defendant is 33 years of age.  He lives with his girlfriend and they have a 3-year-old child.  The defendant is the sole breadwinner and until February of this year he was working as an air-conditioning worker, but he was dismissed from that employment and it was because of that he found himself in financial difficulties and turned to theft as a way to finance payment of his rent and also of his child’s school fees.

10.  The only real mitigation in this case is the fact that the defendant has in fact pleaded guilty and also he admitted his involvement at the time and appeared to have been co-operative with the police at the time of his arrest.

11.  These crimes were obviously committed with a degree of planning.  He had spotted the items that he intended to steal some time before.  He had stolen a goods vehicle and attached false registration plates to that vehicle so as to avoid detection.  He had arranged for the hire of a second vehicle for the transfer of stolen property and with persons to drive that vehicle.  Clearly these are serious matters and the defendant is a man with many previous convictions. 

12.  Taking into account all the circumstances as regards the theft, I take a starting of 2½ year’s imprisonment.  For the insurance, I take a starting point of 6 months’ imprisonment.  For the use of the forged plates, that is a serious matter in my view, I take a starting point again of 2½ years’ imprisonment for that.  And for the theft, I take a starting point of 9 months’ imprisonment.

13.  The defendant will get the benefit of his pleas and all those sentences will be reduced by one-third.  I have considered the question of totality in relation to all these matters.  The 1st offence, the sentence will be one of 20 months.  The 2nd offence will be reduced to 4 months, for no insurance, and I order that to run consecutive to the 1st offence.  The 3rd offence in relation to the use of the fake registration plates, again the sentence will be 20 months, but I order that 6 months of that should run consecutive to the previous two sentences.  The final offence of theft, that will be reduced to 6 months.  I have considered the question of totality and decided that that should run concurrent to the other sentences.  So the total period of imprisonment will be one of 30 months.

14.  The defendant will also be disqualified from driving for a period of 18 months.  What that means is that if you were to drive within that period, you would commit a criminal offence.  However, given the prison sentence, it is most unlikely you will be able to do that.