HKSAR v. RASKOTI AMMAR

DCCC 515/2024 & 702/2025

[2025] HKDC 1566

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NOS. 515 OF 2024 AND 702 OF 2025

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REASONS FOR SENTENCE

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1.  The defendant, together with 2 others, are jointly charged with one count of wounding with intent, contrary to section 17(a) of the Offences against the Person Ordinance, Cap. 212. He pleaded guilty to the charge and agreed to the summary of facts.

Facts of the case

2.  At around 8 p.m. on 23 April 2023, Mr Sunwar Nabin (“the victim”) was drinking with his Nepalese friends in the vicinity of Hi Lee Path, Yuen Long.  Later the victim went on his own to a bar situated at Kin Shing Building, No. 195 - 209 Castle Peak Road, Yuen Long.  When he was inside the building, he met a group of about 5 to 6 Nepalese men.  The defendant was one of them and was carrying a Khukuri of about 40 cm long while some of the others were carrying beef knives.  The victim was coerced to follow the defendant and the other men to the ground level of the building.  The victim then walked towards the direction of LRT Hong Lok Road Station (“Hong Lok Road Station”) trying to get away from the group.

3.  When the victim reached the bus stop of Hi Lee Path, the defendant and other men attacked him by stabbing his arm.  He ran towards the direction of Hong Lok Road Station and during that time, he was chased by some Nepalese males who were carrying knives.

4.  When the victim reached Hong Lok Road Station, the defendant and 4 other men surrounded him and repeatedly stabbing the victim’s arms, palms, right thigh and back with knives for about 20 seconds.  The assailants then fled and a report was made to the police.

5.  The victim was sent to Tuen Mun Hospital.  While he was conscious, he sustained multiple chop wounds over his bilateral upper limbs, a 3-cm deep horizontal laceration wound over his right upper back and superficial laceration wound over his right anterior thigh.  He was referred to the Department of Orthopedics & Traumatology for further treatment and was found to sustain lacerations on his forearms and hands, left wrist, left index finger, right posterior arm, right posterior shoulder and right distal thigh.  Emergency operation was performed for the repair of the victim’s right index finger extensor tendon and bilateral extensor carpi ulnaris muscle.  The injuries was compatible with trauma by sharp object.  He was discharged on 28 April 2023 and was referred for physiotherapy and occupational therapy.

6.  The defendant surrendered to Yuen Long Police Station revealing his wanted status on 23 December 2024.  When he was interviewed under caution, the defendant admitted that he was at the vicinity of Hong Lok Road Station at the material time.  He was identified by the victim in the subsequent identification parade.

Background of the defendant and mitigation

7.  The defendant is now 31 years old and he has 3 previous criminal records in relation to other offences of a different nature.

8.  Ms Tsang, counsel representing the defendant, told the court that the defendant was born in Nepal and came to settle in Hong Kong with his father in 2002.  He received education from up to Form 1 level in Nepal.  Prior to his arrest he worked as a construction site worker earning about HK$30,000 but he had no fixed place of abode.  He was married in 2018 but was separated with his wife in 2024.

9.  It was submitted on the defendant's behalf that the attack of the victim was not premeditated.  Ms Tsang said that before the subject incident, the defendant and his friends met another group of Nepalese men in a restaurant at Kin Shing building.  Some of the members in that group were armed with knives and a fight broke out between the 2 groups.  It was said that during the commotion, the defendant snatched the backpack of one of his opponents and found a Khukuri inside which the defendant had used it in the charged offence.  In other words, it was submitted that the Khukuri used in attacking the victim was not brought by the defendant.

10.  Ms Tsang also submitted authorities in respect of the sentencing principles set down by the Court of Appeal in relation to the offence of wounding with intent.  The defendant also wrote a letter of mitigation expressing his regret for having committed the offence without having due regard to the consequences of his impulsive acts.

Sentencing principles

11.  The maximum sentence for a section 17 wounding offence is life imprisonment while the Court of Appeal has said that the usual range of sentence is 3 to 12 years’ imprisonment; while each case is different and the gravity of the offence will depend on the facts of its commission (see Secretary for Justice v Hau Ping Chuen [2008] 4 HKLRD 673).

12.  In HKSAR v Chan Chun Tat CACC 317/2012, the Court of Appeal at paragraph 49 of the judgment listed out the usual factors to be taken into account in considering the gravity of the subject offence and these included:

(1) the extent to which the assault was premeditated;

(2) the reasons or motivation underlying the assault;

(3) whether drugs or alcohol contributed to the act of the assailants;

(4) whether the assault was committed by the assailant alone or as part of a group;

(5) the type of weapon employed;

(6) the level of force or aggression and the persistence with which the assault was pressed home;

(7) the injuries caused to the victim; and

(8) the effect of the assault upon a victim.

13.  The present case is a serious case of assault involving multiple assailants armed with knives attacking the lone and unarmed victim.  The attack comprised 2 episodes: with the 1st part of the chopping, involving three armed men, taking place at the ground level of Kin Shing Building and the latter part, involving 5 assailants, at Hong Lok Road Station.  The defendant took an active role in both episodes.  While the defendant has put forth in his mitigation that his attacks were not premeditated, those were indeed, according to him, revenge attacks and that he was clearly very persistent in causing serious bodily harm to the victim.  After having stabbed and injured the victim, who then retreated to escape from the assailants, the defendant together with even more attackers made a further vicious attack.  It is also noted that both locations of attack are public places, including the vicinity of a LRT station, and considering the incident happened sometime between 9 p.m. to 10 p.m., the commotion no doubt caused considerable alarm and threats to the neighborhood.  It was fortunate that the victim did not appear to have suffered permanent injuries.

14.  Upon considering the sentencing principles and the circumstances of the case, I shall adopt a starting point of 4 years imprisonment.

15.  The defendant pleaded guilty and is, therefore, entitled to a one-third discount in sentence.  The sentence is, therefore, reduced to 2 years and 8 months’ imprisonment.

Surrender to the authority

16.  While it is accepted that the defendant’s voluntary surrender to the police is a mitigating factor, the extent of this mitigating effect is, as described by Stock JA (as he then was) in HKSAR v Chow Tak Fuk CACC 428/2004 a contextual question.  In HKSAR v Lui Chun Yeung [2014] 2 HKLRD 993, a case of triad related blackmail, the police were trying to locate the accused through its intelligence when he was captured by CCTV recording system.  The accused surrendered himself to the police 4 days after the incident and the Court of Appeal awarded a 3-month deduction in sentence to reflect the accused’s act of surrender.

17.  In the present case, the defendant, who was wanted by the police, surrendered himself to the police some 8 months after the incident.  He was positively identified by the victim in the subsequent identification parade.  In the circumstances, I reduce the sentence by a further 3-months' imprisonment.

18.  The defendant is sentenced to a term of 2 years 5 months’ imprisonment.