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HCCC250/2008
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 250 OF 2008
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Before: Deputy High Court Judge Line in Court
Date: 23 February 2009 at 10.22 am
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Present:
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Mr Leo Chan Sze-shing, Counsel on Fiat, for HKSAR
Mr Rupert Spicer, instructed by Philip W I Li & Co., assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the Accused
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Offence: Rape (強姦)
Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above case
COURT: In 1999, you saw a 13-year-old schoolgirl outside her school. She was leaving at the end of the school day. You were a stranger to her. You took her off the street and lured her into your van. There, you raped her using force to have your way. Her resistance was met with your violence. You hit her about the head several times. You wore no condom and ejaculated inside her. She had a 2-centimetre laceration on her forehead and injury - including laceration and abrasion - to her private parts.
Not very long ago, you would have got away with this wicked crime. Advances in science and identification by DNA have brought you to justice nearly 10 years later. This is the type of rape that must be met by the most severe penalty. It is the rape that every parent fears and against which the child victim can put up no defence. Any right-thinking person would demand that you be punished to the full.
After trial, I would have sent you to prison for 15 years. Your plea earns you a one-third discount and no mitigation exists that takes the discount beyond that. I have been referred to various cases today about sentence in rape cases but cases concerning young girls in groups of youths, or cases that occur in domestic situations are of little help when it comes to deciding the right sentence based on the facts of your case.
You will therefore go to prison for 10 years. That is a long sentence on a plea of guilty to a single count of rape but it is designed to be. Society will not tolerate what you did and it rightly will expect these courts to show no mercy.
Appeal by the Defendant to Court of Appeal against sentence granted. Please refer to CACC81/2009 dated 31 May 2010
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