HKSAR v. CHAN TSZ BUN

DCCC194/2010

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 194 OF 2010

----------------------

----------------------

------------------------------

Reasons for Sentence

------------------------------

1.  Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary, contrary to section 11(1)(a) and (4) of the Theft Ordinance.

2.  You admitted that on 19 January 2010, in Hong Kong, you entered as a trespasser, part of a building known as Zica Hair on the 2nd floor of No.1, Lan Fong Road, Causeway Bay, with intent to commit unlawful damage to one CCTV camera and one cash drawer therein.

3.  At the material time, you were an employee of Zica Salon as a part-time hairstylist there.

4.  On 18 January, the owners of Zica Hair Salon had closed the salon at about 11.30 pm and secured the cash drawer and locked all the doors.

5.  When one of the owners, Mr Lai arrived the following morning at about 11.30am on 19 January, he noticed the back door of the salon had been broken open. 

6.  Mr Lai then discovered the camera of the CCTV system installed in the premises was missing and the cash drawer had been prised open, but no cash had been taken.

7.  Mr Lai then immediately notified the other co-owner, Mr Fung, who came back to the salon at once.

8.  Mr Lai and Mr Fung then viewed the CCTV images recorded earlier that morning and saw that it was you entering the salon at about 7.17 am by forcing open the rear door.  You were seen to look around the premises and remove the CCTV camera from its position in the salon.

9.  The owners immediately made a report to the police. 

10.  The owners then repeatedly tried to contact you by telephone, but were unable to do so.

11.  Later that day, at about 4.15 pm, you rang the salon and spoke to Mr Fung, who then passed the call to Mr Lai.

12.  You told Mr Lai that you had returned to the salon that morning to get some belongings, but you did not have a key so you broke the rear door.  You denied prising open the cash drawer or removing the CCTV camera.

13.  Later that day you sent an SMS to Mr Lai’s mobile phone apologising for your actions.

14.  On the following day, 20 January, you were arrested, and under caution, you admitted to using the scaffolding to climb onto the 2nd floor podium and entered the salon by forcing open the rear door because you did not have any keys.

15.  You admitted that you prised open the cash drawer with a screwdriver but decided not to take the money.

16.  You said you were drunk at the time and broke into the salon to retrieve some money of yours that you had left in your locker in the premises.

17.  The owners confirmed that you had not been provided keys to the salon and you were not authorised to enter the premises outside business hours.

18.  The CCTV camera was not recovered and valued at $700.

19.  You admitted to entering the premises illegally and intending to damage the property therein.

20.  Defendant, your counsel, Mr Wu, has made very full and thorough mitigation on your behalf today, and I have taken into account all that he has had to say.

21.  You are 30 years of age and have two previous convictions of which encompasses three separate offences, one related offence involving robbery, of which in all those offences you were sentenced to detention centre.

22.  Mr Wu has said that you had been out drinking on that morning until the early hours of approximately 6 am, and was at the time you broke in the salon drunk.

23.  You had been drinking with a friend who paid the bill and you wanted to pay your friend back. As you were close to the salon where you worked and remembered you had money in the locker in the salon of approximately $500-odd, you decided to go to the salon and get your money so as to pay your friend back.  So you foolishly climbed up the scaffolding and broke into the salon through the rear door.

24.  Once you entered the salon, you realised that you were captured by the CCTV, and therefore you removed the CCTV.

25.  You retrieved your money and you wanted to leave through the front door of the salon, and that is why you broke into the cash drawer to see whether there was a front door key in there and used a screwdriver that was in the salon already.  You, however, could not find the key and, of course, you did not take any money.

26.  I have received various letters of mitigation from yourself, your mother, your employers, the owners of Zica, your previous employers of Hair Wave Salon, and also from your previous employer at Neway City Karaoke.

27.  I am informed by your mother that you have been brought up by a single-parent family, and you have worked hard and learnt skills of hairdressing.  Although you had done wrong some 10-odd years ago, you have corrected yourself and have been out of trouble for 10-odd years.

28.  Your mother says you are a very filial and caring son, and I have been told by your counsel, Mr Wu, that you contribute a large proportion of your income to her for family expenses.

29.  Your employers, both present and past, have said that you are a responsible person with no bad record during the course of your employment.  You are hardworking warm and sincere towards your job.

30.  The employers of Zica, the burgled premises in this case, have even written to say that they are willing to reemploy you once you have being punished for your crime.  They speak well of you and say you are very enthusiastic and work hard.

31.  As for yourself, you realise that the commission of this crime was caused by you drinking too much alcohol, being drunk, and losing your state of mind.

32.  You feel sorry for your colleagues at Zica Salon.  You apologise to your mother, and you have a very guilty conscious.

33.  You have realised that drinking is a problem, and you will stop drinking and take every opportunity to correct your error and clean up your act.

34.  It is a very unfortunate state of affairs that you have landed yourself into as a result of a drunken night out with your friends.

35.  No doubt you have obviously let your family down, your friends down, your employers, and most importantly, yourself.

36.  You have, as I see, been out of trouble for the past 10 years, although your initial offences were of a quite serious kind. You know what it is like to be behind the clang of prison gates.  It is something you want to stay way from.

37.  I, however, accept that now and immediately after your wrongdoing you accepted that you were guilty of this offence, and you very frankly and early admitted this to the owners of Zica and also to the police.

38.  Mr Wu, your counsel, has informed me that he has told you of the guidelines for this type of offence of burglary.  This was a non-domestic premises, therefore the starting point for this type of burglary is one of 2½ years’ imprisonment.

39.  Your greatest mitigating factor is of course your plea of guilty to which you will receive a one-third discount from the starting point of 2½ years’.

40.  The fact that you were drunk is no mitigation whatsoever.

41.  In those circumstances, I take a starting point of 2½ years’ and reduce your sentence to 1 year and 8 months’ imprisonment.

42.  However, you have had made compensation today in the sum of $1,000, that is for the CCTV and the cash drawer that was either lost or not recovered or broken, damaged, and in those circumstances, I shall reduce that term by a further month and therefore, you will be sentenced to 1 year 7 months’ imprisonment.