R. v. SIM CHI KO

1996, No.504

(Criminal)

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL

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J U D G M E N T

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Sears J. (delivering the judgment of the court) :

1. This is an application for leave to appeal against conviction after trial before Deputy Judge Jackson in the High Court. The charge was possession of arms and ammunition without a licence.

2. The facts of the case were very short in that on 10 February 1996 in Room 2A on the 3rd Floor of a building in Hung Hom, a purple coloured bag was found which contained one Chinese type 7.62 mm calibre automatic pistol and four rounds of ammunition. The applicant was interviewed by the police and admitted that it had been placed in his flat by a person whom he said was called "Ah Lok", that he knew that that man had been engaged in some criminal activity but that he thought the bag contained only knives.

3. The evidence which was produced indicated that the man known as "Ah Lok" was a registered police informer and that he had been paid some $15,000 by the police for giving information in relation to that firearm.

4. The applicant gave evidence and alleged that this had been planted in his room, that although he knew that the bag was there, he did not know what was in the bag. The judge dealt with all the relevant matters in his summing-up. The defence was fairly and very fully put to the jury and the jury convicted the applicant.

5. Before us today, the applicant makes complaint that he was indeed framed by this informer and that it was unfair because he did not appear in court to give evidence. He said that he had asked his lawyer to call "Ah Lok" to give evidence but this did not happen. It must be abundantly clear that had "Ah Lok" given evidence, he certainly would not have said that he had planted that bag.

6. We have examined all the evidence given in this case and the summing-up, we can find nothing which in any way flaws this conviction nor can it be said to be unsafe or unsatisfactory. In the circumstances, this application is dismissed.