HKSAR v. TUNG TSUN-HO

 DCCC334/2010

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 334 OF 2010

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  Tung Tsun-ho. You have pleaded guilty to a charge of common assault and a charge of criminal damage. You pleaded not guilty to a charge of assault with intent to rob.

2.  The prosecution have indicated that they are prepared to accept those pleas on the basis that at the time of the incident that gave rise to those charges in the early morning of 31 January this year in Ship Street in Wanchai, you were seriously intoxicated. The prosecution accordingly offered no further evidence on the charge of assault with intent to rob. I accordingly convict you of the charge of common assault and of the charge of criminal damage, and I acquit you of the charge of assault with intent to rob.

3.  For reasons which are not entirely clear but apparently attributable to your intoxication, you approached a taxi driver, Mr Chan Kai-sing, as he was locking up his taxi in Ship Street at the end of his nightshift on the morning in question. You kept speaking words to him in English which he did not understand. You then for some reason pulled at the strap of the shoulder bag he had over his shoulder which contained his takings. With your other hand, you grabbed at his throat. You continued to speak to him in English. He did not understand what you were saying and he told you so.

4.  When you were holding his throat with one hand, you knocked his head against the iron gate of premises behind him. You also elbowed him in the chest during the course of the assault. He shouted out for help.

5.  At around this time, Mr To Mun-tong, a driver of a light goods vehicle, was about to make a delivery of bread to a restaurant in Ship Street. He saw what appeared to be a scuffle between you and Mr Chan. Accordingly, he stopped his vehicle and got out. He says he saw you with your arm round the back of Mr Chan’s neck, apparently leaning against him. He asked Mr Chan if he needed help. Your response, which you gave in Cantonese, was to suggest that the matter had nothing to do with him.

6.  Seeing that Mr To did not intend to leave, you went to the back of Mr Chan’s taxi and broke off the antenna and made as if you were about to assault Mr To with it. However, you did not do so and the police arrived and arrested you. Mr Chan was taken to hospital. Fortunately, he was not seriously hurt but he was found to have tenderness over his neck, upper chest and head.

7.  I need not tell you that this sort of behaviour is totally unacceptable. An innocent taxi driver was subjected to a violent assault after he had just finished his nightshift and was about to return home. It is the sort of offence that if it is repeated is likely to result in a custodial sentence.

8.  However, I have taken into account what you have told me today. I have also taken into account what has been said to me by your counsel, Mr Cheng Huan, and by the many letters supporting you which have been submitted to me. It does appear that this offence was completely out of character and as a result of drinking far too much at a friend’s birthday party. This is an offence that has obviously caused great distress not simply to Mr Chan, the taxi driver, but also to your friends and family and those who care about you.

9.  On this occasion, I am prepared to deal with these offences by way of a financial penalty. On Charge 2, which is the charge of common assault, I fine you $2,000. On Charge 3, the charge of criminal damage, I fine you $2,000. So there is a total fine of $4,000. Those fines are to be paid within 30 days. And if you default, you will be subjected to 1 month’s imprisonment in respect of each fine. So if you default on both, it is 2 months’ imprisonment.

10.  I am also going to make an order that you pay compensation to the taxi driver, Mr Chan Kai-sing, in the sum of $5,000. That is to compensate him for the assault to which you subjected him and also for the damage to the antenna of his taxi. That is a judgment debt which is payable by you.