CHOI KUK SHEK v. R.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL

1994, No. 234
(Criminal)

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J U D G M E N T

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Litton, J.A. giving the judgment of the court:

1. This is an application for leave to appeal against sentence. The applicant was at the time of conviction 24 years of age. He was convicted on his own plea before Deputy Judge Cannon and a jury in the High Court on a total of seven counts. There were two counts of robbery, three counts of possession of imitation firearms at the time of committing an offence, one of attempted robbery and one of having imitation firearms with intent to commit an offence. The judge rightly considered that as a matter of principle the sentences on the robbery offences should be consecutive to each other because they occurred on separate occasions. But having regard to the totality principle she made the sentences partially concurrent and partially consecutive. The result was that this applicant was sentenced to a total of nine and a half years' imprisonment, to run consecutively with a term he was then serving for wounding with intent.

2. In each case the robbery was of the Standard Chartered Bank and it would be right to infer that this applicant had embarked upon a process of robbing the various branches of the bank, but failed on his third attempt; hence the charge of attempted robbery.

3. In this court the applicant has expressed remorse and repentance, and sought a reduction of sentence on that account; but the public interest is something that we must bear clearly in mind. This was a calculated course of conduct which spanned the period from June to October 1993.

4. In our judgment the sentence of nine and a half years' imprisonment in total was neither excessive nor wrong in principle and nothing which the applicant has said in this court persuades us that we should interfere. The application for leave to appeal is therefore refused.