HKSAR v. IRFAN AHMED MINHAS

DCCC630/2010

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 630 OF 2010

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  Defendant, you pleaded guilty to an offence of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, contrary to Common Law and punishable under section 39 of the Offences against the Person Ordinance.

2.  You admitted that on 7 March 2010 at the junction of Shek Kip Mei Street and Tai Nan Street, Sham Shui Po, you assaulted Mirza Sajjad Baig, thereby occasioning him actual bodily harm.

3.  On the day in question at about 9.30 am you and Mr Mirza had a quarrel at the junction of the street and you then used a hockey stick to hit Mr Mirza.  The medical examination found there was tenderness and redness on his left back, left arm and left thigh.  He was discharged from hospital on the same day with analgesics. 

4.  Both you and Mr Mirza, the victim, knew each other before this assault. 

5.  Your counsel, Mr Surman, has mitigated on your behalf this morning.  You are 29 years of age, have two previous convictions and are married with four young children.  Mr Surman has informed me that the reason for you committing this offence was because you took the law into your own hands and tried to teach the victim a lesson. 

6.  I am informed that the victim had attempted to blackmail you in that he had some photographs of you in compromising positions with female friends and he was threatening to show these to your wife whom you were very protective of and knowing that if he did, it would cause great domestic problems.  You are in the Muslim community and of course this is deemed very inappropriate.

7.  It is said that the victim asked you for money, otherwise he would tell your wife.  As you thought this was an outrageous demand, you decided to teach him a lesson and not demand money from you and assault him.  You did assault him with a hockey stick which, as Mr Surman says, can be a very lethal weapon.  It is heavy.  The head is made of wood and if struck at very vulnerable places of the body, it can cause very, very serious injuries. 

8.  This assault, as I see it, does not appear to be an aggressive assault as such.  As indicated by the report, there was only tenderness and redness on the left back, arm and thigh.  Nevertheless, assaulted and attacked by a hockey stick must certainly be painful and very frightening. This type of behaviour, Defendant, cannot and will never be tolerated in a civilized society and particularly in Hong Kong.  You must understand that you cannot take the law or any matters in your own hands in the way that you have by going out in our streets in public and blatantly assaulting people.  This, as Mr Surman says, needs to be deterred and with a proper sentence of imprisonment.

9.  You have on one occasion had two similar convictions of assault occasioning actual bodily harm to which you were sentenced to 2 months’ imprisonment in June of 2010.  I am informed that that offence was committed in May of 2010.   This offence occurred in March 2010, so before these convictions as is seen on the record. 

10.  I shall therefore be sentencing you on the basis that this is your first offence of assault, but I note that this year, should I say, you have shown much aggression which has obviously landed you in a lot of trouble with the law.  This must be stopped.  You cannot continue to assault people and commit these offences. 

11.  I consider this offence to be a serious offence, because you used a weapon, which was a hockey stick, which caused injury to the left back, arm and thigh on the victim.

12.  Defendant, you have pleaded guilty.  This shows me your remorse.  That is clearly your greatest mitigating factor here.  In the circumstances of these facts, I consider a starting point, had I convicted you after trial, of 6 months’ imprisonment.  Giving you full credit for your plea of guilty, I reduce that term to one of 4 months’ imprisonment to which you shall be so sentenced.