HKSAR v. NG CHUNG FAI

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF APPEAL

1998, No. 497
(Criminal)

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J U D G M E N T

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Mayo, J.A. (giving the judgment of the Court):

1. The Applicant pleaded guilty before Judge Gill in the District Court to theft and was sentenced to 3 1/2 years imprisonment. He now seeks leave to appeal against this sentence.

2. The facts are straightforward. The Applicant was employed in a position of trust. He was sales supervisor of a manufacturer of watches. Over a period of almost two years he ordered watch parts for fictitious customers. He took delivery of the parts himself and then on sold the parts for his own benefit. The total amount involved was $5,430,500 of which the Applicant has repaid $1,253,000 leaving a balance of $4,177,500.

3. The Judge adopted a starting point of 5 1/2 years imprisonment and gave the Applicant credit for his early plea and co-operation with his employer and the authorities. Apparently the Applicant speculated unsuccessfully on currency futures and stole the watch parts to make good his losses.

4. The Applicant complains that the starting point adopted by the Judge was too high. The starting point was high but was not manifestly excessive. However in addition to this the Applicant does not appear to have been given sufficient credit for making good a significant amount of the loss sustained. He was given little more than the usual 1/3 discount for his plea. We consider that in all the circumstances 6 months should be deducted from the sentence.

5. We allow the application. Treating it as the appeal we reduce the sentence from 3 1/2 years to 3 years. To this extent the appeal is successful.