HKSAR v. NGUYEN CONG QUY

DCCC901/2010

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 901 OF 2010

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to a single charge of burglary, contrary to section 11(1)(b) and (4) of the Theft Ordinance, Cap. 210, Laws of Hong Kong.

2.  The particulars being that you on 24 March and 25 March of last year entered the Ocean Engineering Company, Shop A, Ground Floor, Mai Tong Industrial Building in Sze Shan Street, Kwun Tong, as a trespasser and stole one notebook computer and one USB modem.

3.  The brief facts which you have admitted are extremely straightforward.  A staff member returned to the victimized premises on 25 March 2009 at about 12.15 pm and found signs of a break-in and ransacking.  A notebook computer and a USB port were found to be missing.  On a table in the premises an iron bar and a cigarette butt which upon later examination was found to contain your DNA were found. 

4.  Some six months after the burglary, you were arrested and admitted having broken into these premises.  You admitted that you sold the stolen property for HK$1,500.

5.  You are 46 years of age and have an appalling criminal record which consists of 22 previous convictions, 11 of which are for burglary and one for attempted burglary.  You are presently serving a sentence of 2 years and 8 months’ imprisonment which was imposed on you in July of last year in respect of 4 separate counts of burglary. 

6.  The offence for which you now appear before this court predates that last conviction but could not have been dealt with on the last occasion as you were not arrested until September of last year. Nevertheless, the fact that you are currently serving a sentence of imprisonment is obviously something that I must take into account in sentencing you today. 

7.  The proper starting point for an offence of burglary of commercial premises is one of 2½ years’ imprisonment.  I indeed adopt that starting point but will increase it by 6 months to one of 3 years’ imprisonment to reflect the aggravating feature that I have already referred to, that is your appalling record for burglaries.  I increase the starting point therefore to one of 3 years’ imprisonment. 

8.  You are entitled to a one-third discount, to take account of your plea of guilty, coming to 2 years’ imprisonment.

9.  As this matter could, it seems to me, have been brought before the court much earlier than today, bearing in mind that you were arrested last September and have been serving a sentence of imprisonment since July of last year, I propose to further discount your sentence by 12 months, to take this into account, coming to 12 months’ imprisonment. 

10.  I order that 3 months of the sentence of 12 months is to be served concurrently with your present sentence of imprisonment in view of the fact that your earliest release date is February 2011, and the balance of 9 months is to be served consecutively.