HKSAR v. WONG CHIU MEI

CACC 505/2003

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF APPEAL

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 505 OF 2003

(ON APPEAL FROM DCCC NO. 577 OF 2003)

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J U D G M E N T

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Hon Stock JA:

1. I have heard the applicant for some three quarters of an hour during which she has explained in clear and chronological detail the circumstances in which, she says, she came to commit these offences.  The revolving credit nature of the offence is not as unusual as she suspects, but I think that the details, including the details of the payments she made to the bank and the timing of those payments, should be canvassed before the full court.  That court will wish to examine issues such as the seriousness and the length of these offences, but also the fact that most repayments were made well before arrest; the account which the applicant has given as to the source of those repayments and the remorse she feels arising from those circumstances; and whether sufficient account has been accorded to these various facts. 

2. I shall therefore grant the applicant leave to appeal against sentence.  I have explained to her that leave is not an indication that she will succeed.  It is merely an indication that in my judgment her case deserves a hearing by the full court.