HKSAR v. CHAN SHEUNG KUEN

 DCCC1329/2009

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 1329 OF 2009

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  Defendant, you pleaded guilty to a charge of Theft, which is theft by pickpocketing, contrary to section 9 of the Theft Ordinance.

2.  You admitted that on 3 November 2009, on the pavement of Reclamation Street junction with Argyle Street, Mongkok, Kowloon, you stole one wallet containing one Hong Kong ID card, one Home Visit Permit, one Octopus card, three bank cards, cash of HK$270, RMB0.8, property belonging to Wong Suet-ying.

3.  On 3 November 2009, police officers were on anti-burglary duties patrolling in the Mongkok area. At about 1848 hours police officers saw you walking along Argyle Street alone, slowly and looking at pedestrians around you. They found you suspicious and kept you under observation. When you arrived at Reclamation Street, you approached a vegetable stall. At that time there were several customers patronising the stall and selecting vegetables. One of the customers was Madam Wong, who carried a handbag. Her handbag was not fully zipped. The officer observed you watching Madam Wong for a few seconds and then saw you approach her from behind and use your right hand to unzip her handbag whilst she was selecting vegetables. You then took her wallet out of her handbag.

4.  At this juncture, the officer went up to you and put his hand on your shoulder and shouted, “Police, don’t move.” You immediately turned and discarded the wallet onto the ground. Madam Wong was then alerted and turned around to see that her wallet was on the ground. The officer declared arrest on you for theft and cautioned you, and you replied, “Ah Sir, I have no money for food and that is why I resort to pickpocketing. Now that I’m caught red-handed, please give me a chance.”

5.  Later, under another interview, you admitted that you had picked the wallet from PW2’s handbag. Madam Wong checked her wallet and confirmed that there was no loss.

6.  Mr Yuen, your solicitor, has made full mitigation on your behalf this morning and I have taken into account all that he has had to say.

7.  You are now aged 53 and have been to court on 21 occasions and have 29 previous convictions; 15 of those are offences relating to dishonesty. Your last conviction was in April 2008, for which one of those offences was also that of pickpocketing, you were sentenced on that offence alone to 10 months’ imprisonment.

8.  Mr Yuen has submitted to me that you are divorced and from that previous marriage you have two children, aged 35 and 37. You are now remarried and have a son, aged 4, living in China. You lived in China from 2002 to 2007, however you came back to Hong Kong to rejoin society and receive CSSA at $2,800 a month. Your rent alone was $1,200. You paid your wife in China $1,000 a month, so that left you with little or no money for yourself to live. Mr Yuen has said basically you committed this offence out of a moment of greed.

9.  He has submitted you have, in fact, been in prison for some 20-odd years, on and off since the date of your first offence in 1971. For that reason you have found it very difficult to find work when not in prison.

10.  He has asked me to be as lenient as possible upon you as you now have a driving licence to work as a lorry driver and you are hoping to turn anew and commence working in the transport business after your release from prison.

11.  The relevant authority for pickpocketing is HKSAR v Ngo Van Huy, CACC107/2004. The Chief Judge Ma of the High Court in September 2004 laid down guidelines and principles for the offence of pickpocketing. In that case the Court of Appeal said the guideline sentence of between 12 and 15 months after trial is appropriate for a first-time offender.

12.  Account must be taken of the existence of any aggravating or particularly mitigating features before the court. Aggravating factors include the presence or use of a weapon, such as a knife to cut open, say, a handbag, crowded places, or whether the accused is a repeat offender.

13.  In this case taking into account those guidelines, I take a starting point of 15 months’ imprisonment. I consider the aggravating factor of your bad previous record for dishonesty and another 6 months should be added to the 15 months. There also existed the aggravating feature that you had picked Madam Wong’s wallet in a crowded area where people were shopping for groceries. In those circumstances I add another 3 months to the sentence. That makes a total of 24 months’ imprisonment. However, I take into account your early plea of guilty and the fact that you saved the court time. I give you the one-third discount and sentence you to a total of 16 months’ imprisonment.