13 Jun 2000
The appellate court found no material misapprehension by the magistrate, concluded the magistrate was entitled to prefer PW1's evidence and reject the defence, and held that the conviction was not unsafe or unsatisfactory; the appeal against conviction was dismissed.
31 Dec 1998
Because the magistrate's oral reasons did not demonstrate he had addressed the critical weaknesses in the identification evidence and did not rule on the expert status and admissibility of the police sergeant's triad evidence, the convictions were unsafe; subsequent written findings were ex post facto and could not cure the deficiency, therefore the appeals against conviction succeed and the sentences are set aside, and the triad-membership conviction fails for lack of admissible evidence proving the first element of the offence.
5 Jun 1997
Leave to appeal was refused because the trial judge had considered in depth the identification, the confession and the recovery of the knife and was properly satisfied as to their reliability; the alleged prosecutorial remark about the jeans' colour would not have distracted the judge from forming his own independent view.