THE QUEEN v. CHU KAM HON AND OTHERS

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JUDGMENT

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Hunter, J.:

1. The three applicants CHU Kam-hon , NG Chi-keung and CHAN Wai- sing were all convicted on 30th July of this year after trial by Judge Baily on a charge of robbery. They first seek leave to appeal against that conviction. The robbery took place on the 17th of May of this year. The victims were a Miss Li and a Mr. Koo. They were in Victoria Park when they say they were robbed by these 3 persons. Miss Li was robbed of $30. Mr. Koo lost $520 and a pendant. It is what happened immediately after the robbery which is, perhaps, of most significance in the light of the principal ground of appeal which has been advanced this morning, which is that they are not sufficiently identified for this conviction to stand. Having robbed these two persons, the gang of 3 men ran out of Victoria Park being chased by Mr. Koo. He saw them entered a vehicle which he described as a red private car and he remembered the last 3 letters of the index number of the car as 861 and informed the police accordingly. A matter of minutes later, a taxi bearing the registration number CX 861 was stopped by police and the 3 applicants were the 3 occupants of that taxi. So the question really before the trial judge was; were these 3 persons innocent travellers who happened to have caught this taxi at that particular moment at Victoria Park or were they were the 3 robbers.

2. Now the first thing that was found in the taxi was that one of the applicants had on him $500 in five $100 notes. The second thing was after these 3 men got out of the taxi, which is perhaps more significant, is that $30 and a pendant were discoveredd on the back seat left behind by these 3 when they got out of the taxi. That pendant was later identified by Mr. Koo as the pendant that had been taken from, him at the same time as the $520. There were other evidence of identification before the court. Mr. Koo identified the 1st applicant as one of the robbers, first of all at an ID parade and secondly at the trial. Miss Li also identified the remaining 2 defendants at an identification parade held on. the 21st of May. But by the time of the trial which was some weeks late, she could remember only one, and at the very end of her cross-examination was expressing doubts as to whether her identification was necessarily correct. All these matters were before the court below and were plainly very much in the mind of the trial judge as was demonstrated by the reasons he gave for his verdict. In our judgment, there was ample evidence to link these 3 persons with thin robbery quid to identify them as she robbers, and in these circumstances, we dismiss the application for leave to appeal against conviction.

3. As far as sentences are concerned, the 1st applicant CHU Kam-hon was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment, and the 2nd and 3rd to detention in a Training Centre. As far as the 2nd applicant is concerned, no possible criticism can be directed at the trial judge for that order. In the case of Mr. Chu on the other hand, it can be pointed out that unlike his co-applicants, he had no criminal record and this was his first conviction. Secondly, he is a comparatively young man of 22 ,a fact which disqualified him for a Training Centre Order. Thirdly, robbery of any sort is a serious offence and the whole experience must have been extremely disturbing end disagreeable to the 2 victims, but as counsel for him said, I think fairly, this was he sort of robbery which might have been put at the lower end of the scale. There was some force used upon Mr. Koo but it was of a very modest degree. Again, the description used in argument from which I would not dissent, is "some slight roughing up".

4. In those circumstances, having regard to the nature of he robbery and the fact that this is the first time the lot applicant appears. before the court, we are minded to conclude that the sentence of 3 years imprisonment upon him was unnecessarily severe and that a proper sentence sufficient to mark the gravity of this offence would be one of 18 months imprisonment. In respect of CHU Kam-hon therefore, we grant leave to appeal against sentence and reduced his sentence to 18 months accordingly. All remaining applications are dismissed.