CHAN HOR NAM v. R.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL

1994, No. 5
(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 is the application of Chan Hor-nam for leave to appeal against sentence only, his application in relation to conviction having been abandoned. He was convicted by His Honour Judge Caird in the District Court on 22 November 1993 on two charges. The first, that he brought a Thai woman into Hong Kong in 1991 for the purpose of prostitution, contrary to section 129(1) of the Crimes Ordinance; the second, that between November 1991 and 12 February 1993 he lived on the earnings of the prostitution of that Thai woman. The applicant was convicted after trial and the District Judge sentenced him to imprisonment for two years six months on the first charge and four months, consecutive to the first, on the second charge making a total of two years 10 months.

2. The applicant was 59 years old at the time of conviction and not in good health. He has one previous conviction for a similar offence in 1984. The maximum imprisonment for the first charge is seven years upon conviction on indictment. In relation to the second charge the fact is that the applicant had lived on the earnings of the prostitution of the woman concerned for a considerable period of time. The judge said in relation to the second charge that the sentence would have been in the vicinity of three to nine months and he imposed the sentence of four months having regard to the totality principle. In this regard the judge can be said to have been merciful since it was a calculated course of conduct which lasted for well over a year.

3. In our judgment, the sentence of two years six months for the first charge is not manifestly excessive and having regard the totality principle the total of two years ten months is correct. This application must therefore be dismissed.