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DCCC172/2009
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 172 OF 2009
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Before: H H Judge Browne
Date: 25 March 2009 at 11.50 am
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Present:
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Mr William Siu, PP of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR
Mr Lee Kwok-lun, of Messrs Tai, Tang & Chong, assigned by the Legal Aid Department, for the Defendant
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Offence: Burglary (入屋犯法罪)
Reasons for Sentence
1. The defendant pleaded guilty to two charges of burglary. One was committed on 5 January 2009, and the second one was committed on 16 January.
2. The defendant is targeting premises on Reclamation Street. These are fruit market premises, and they are secured by roller shutters. He uses a wire to interfere with the locks of the shutters so that he can gain access to steal the cash inside. On the first occasion, he stole $6,000 and, on the second occasion, he stole $1,000.
3. The defendant is 44 years of age. He is single, was educated to Form 3 level. He has worked previously as a minibus driver and as a renovation worker and has earned about six and a half thousand dollars per month.
4. He has 12 previous court appearances. Many of the offences were for offences of burglary or attempted burglary. He obviously prefers burglary to making his money in legitimate ways. His record suggests that the normal tariffs do not deter him from committing offences of burglary. So, in the defendant’s case, it is necessary to impose a greater starting point.
5. So, in each of the cases, I take a starting point of three years’ imprisonment rather than the 2½ years that is normally imposed. The only mitigation in this case is that the defendant has pleaded guilty. So each of those starting points will reduce by a third, so they will be each two years’ imprisonment.
6. As far as the defendant is concerned, I have to consider the question of totality. These identical offences were committed one very shortly after the other. So what I have decided is that the period of imprisonment for the 2nd charge will be consecutive by six months to the period for the first sentence. So the total period of imprisonment will be two years and six months.
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