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HCMA 318/2012
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
MAGISTRACY APPEAL NO 318 OF 2012
(ON APPEAL FROM ESCC 5124 OF 2011)
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BETWEEN
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HKSAR |
Respondent |
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LAM KAY（林麒） |
Appellant |
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Before: The Honourable Mrs Justice V Bokhary in Court
Date of Hearing: 7 June 2012
Date of Judgment: 7 June 2012
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J U D G M E N T
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1. This Appellant, a man of previous good character in his 40s, appeals against his conviction in the Magistrates’ Court on a charge of theft. The particulars of the charge are that he stole a packet of bread worth $25.90 at a supermarket. What he did was to eat one of the four buns in the packet and walk out of the supermarket without paying.
2. In the witness-box, he testified, just as he had said immediately upon being apprehended outside the supermarket by a member of the staff, that he thought that what he ate was a free sample for tasting.
3. Upon a careful consideration of the whole of the evidence, and all the circumstances, I do not feel able to consider this conviction safe. There is a lurking doubt as to whether there was a misunderstanding on the Appellant’s part.
4. The just course, in my view, is to quash this conviction. Accordingly, the appeal is allowed. And the conviction is quashed.
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(V Bokhary)
Judge of the Court of First Instance
High Court
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The appellant appeared in person
Ms Hermina Ng, of the Department of Justice, for the respondent
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