3 Feb 2016
Leave to appeal against sentence was granted because the applicant demonstrated that her grounds were reasonably arguable: the sentencing judge's 14‑year starting point may have been on the high side given the applicant's youth, cooperation and the dynamics of her involvement, and those matters warrant full appellate scrutiny.
6 Apr 2006
The Court held the 28-year determinate sentence was within the range of appropriate punishment for a particularly brutal, calculated murder by a youth; the deduction for assistance was generous (possibly unjustified) but not a ground for interference, and the applicant's conduct in custody did not demonstrate exceptional remorse or rehabilitation to justify reducing the term; application dismissed.
4 Apr 2006
The trial judge properly accepted the voluntariness and reliability of the applicant's videotaped admissions, corroborated by his conduct in taking police to relevant locations and the similarity of clothing to the victim's description; those findings made the conviction safe. On sentence, the judge correctly applied the 7-year starting point per Mo Kwong-sang and properly reduced it by one year for youth and clear record, making six years not manifestly excessive.
2 Jun 2004
The Court held that the four year imprisonment imposed was not excessive or manifestly excessive given the seriousness of taxi robbery, the need for deterrent sentencing established in precedent, and that the judge had considered youth and clear records; accordingly the application for leave to appeal against sentence was dismissed.
23 Apr 2004
The appeal was allowed in part and the concurrent sentences were reduced to two months each because, given the appellant's age (16), likely student status, clear record and remorse, a shorter custodial term was proportionate and sufficient to achieve deterrence.
16 Jul 2002
Because the offence was very serious and there were no convincing mitigating circumstances other than the applicant's age of 17, the appropriate sentence was remand in a training centre and not probation; the judge's order was therefore correct and the appeal dismissed.
16 May 1997
The Court held the trial judge misdirected himself in imposing DATC orders in these cases and that such orders were manifestly inadequate given the circumstances; it set aside the DATC order for Choi and substituted imprisonment (3 years 6 months) while reserving decision on Fong pending a report on his progress in the DATC, recognizing DATC disposal as exceptional.
20 Mar 1997
The Court upheld the trial judge's exercise of sentencing discretion, finding that a total sentence of four years imprisonment for the two taxi robberies was not wrong in principle or manifestly excessive given the facts, the limited discounts applied, and the application of the totality principle.
13 Mar 1997
The six-year sentence was manifestly excessive in all the circumstances because the factual basis of conviction was uncertain and the only reliable aggravating factor was the victim's age; accordingly the appropriate sentence is four and a half years' imprisonment.
10 Jul 1996
The magistrate exercised lawful sentencing discretion, the plea discount applied was adequate given the timing of the plea, and the reduction to two years' imprisonment was not wrong in principle nor manifestly excessive; appeal dismissed.