Your World of Legal Intelligence
 Hong Kong | 1-800-335-6202

Hksar v Lam Wan Man, Janet

Judgment Cited authorities 2 Cited in Precedent Map Related
Vincent
Judgment Date16 March 2016
Year2016
Judgement NumberCACC52/2014
Subject MatterCriminal Appeal
CourtCourt of Appeal (Hong Kong)
CACC52/2014 HKSAR v. LAM WAN MAN, JANET

CACC 52/2014

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF APPEAL

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO 52 OF 2014

(ON APPEAL FROM HCCC 44/2013)

____________

BETWEEN
HKSAR Respondent
and
LAM WAN MAN, JANET Applicant

____________

Before: Hon Lunn VP and Pang JA in Court
Date of Hearing: 3 March 2016
Date of Judgment: 3 March 2016
Date of Reasons for Judgment: 16 March 2016

__________________________

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

__________________________

Hon Pang JA (giving the reasons for judgment of the court):

1. This is an application to treat as nullity the abandonment of an application for leave to appeal against sentence.

Factual Background

2. On 5 February 2014, in High Court Case No. 44/2013, the applicant pleaded guilty to an indictment containing two counts, namely trafficking in 25.71 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, referred to hereinafter as “ICE” (Count 1), and possessing 1.05 grammes of the same (Count 2).

3. The facts were that on being stopped by the police in the street, the applicant was found to be holding the ICE in Count 1, then concealed in a wet tissue packet. Under caution, she admitted to be involved in the business of drug trafficking and was on her way to taking the ICE to another. Later, at the conclusion of a house search which yielded no result, the appellant admitted on her own volition that there remained a small amount of drug hidden inside her undergarment. This led to the discovery of the ICE in Count 2 which, according to the applicant’s uncontested version, was for her own consumption.

4. For the above two charges, the applicant was sentenced by Deputy Judge Wright, the trial judge, to a total of 5½ years’ imprisonment. More specifically, having been accorded with the customary discount of 33% for pleading guilty, she was sentenced to 5 years and 2 months’ imprisonment for Count 1 and 10 months’ imprisonment for Count 2. Four months of the sentence on Count 2 was, however, ordered to run consecutively to that on Count 1 thus giving the said total.

5. But that is not the end of the matter. For about four months after the commission of the above offences, the applicant was caught in another case of drug trafficking, High Court Case No. 138/2013, to which she had also pleaded guilty before Deputy Judge Wright and was due to be sentenced on the same occasion.

6. Insofar as this application is concerned, the facts of that case are unimportant. All that needs to be said is that, for trafficking in 209.81 grammes of ICE, the applicant was, after a reduction of one-third, sentenced to 8 years and 4 months’ imprisonment.

7. As regards the overall sentence to be imposed on the two cases, Cases No. 44/2013 and 138/2013, the judge took into account the totality principle and capped the final term of imprisonment at 10½ years. Having correctly identified as aggravating factors the applicant’s criminal record[1] and commission of Case No. 138/2013 whilst being on bail in respect of Case No. 44/2013, the judge added a further 6 months to the sentence thus giving a total of 11 years’ imprisonment.

Procedural History

8. On 17 February 2014, the applicant filed her notice of application for leave to appeal against sentence. Her complaint was that:

“ I was charged with two counts of offences and was given consecutive sentences. I think my sentences are excessive. However, the judge eventually added 6 months to that.”

9. Ten months later, on 10 December 2014, she filed her notice of abandonment and, in a sheet attached to the that notice, stated the following:

“ I have considered it carefully and I have decided to abandon.”[2]

10. Now, almost 7½ months after the event, the applicant asks to revive her application. This is what...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT