HKSAR v. NGUYEN DUY-LINH

HCMA 579/99

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

MAGISTRACY APPEAL NO. 579 OF 1999

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J U D G M E N T

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1. The Appellant pleaded guilty to three charges before the learned Magistrate in South Kowloon Magistracy. The three charges were Remaining in Hong Kong Without the Authority of the Director of Immigration after having Landed Unlawfully in Hong Kong, Possession of a Forged Vietnamese Refugee Card and Breach of Deportation Order.

2. The admitted facts disclosed a simple case of the Appellant being found on a bus by the police and upon further enquiry, they discovered the illegal status of the Appellant and the other offences.

3. At the hearing before the learned Magistrate, the Appellant was represented by a Duty Lawyer. The Appellant was finally given 15 months for the first count, and the overall sentence was 21 months. The learned Magistrate imposed the sentences after listening to the mitigation by the Duty Lawyer.

4. The Appellant now appeals against the 15 months sentence. Arguing the appeal on his own, he reiterated that his wife was pregnant and invited this Court to be lenient with him.

5. However, having read the transcript and the Reasons for Sentence, I cannot find any reason to further reduce the sentence. His wife's pregnancy had already been referred to in mitigation. Furthermore, it is not the first time that the Appellant had committed this type of offences. He was sentenced to 12 months for some similar offences in 1997.

6. There is no merit in this appeal and I shall dismiss it accordingly.