LI KWOK-KONG v. THE QUEEN
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CACC000335/1976
| IN THE COURT OF APPEAL | 1976 No. 335 |
| (Criminal) |
| BETWEEN: | ||
| LI Kwok-kong | Appellant | |
| and | ||
| THE QUEEN | Respondent |
Coram: Briggs, C.J., Huggins & Pickering, JJ.A.
Date of Judgment: 14th May, 1976.
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JUDGMENT
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1. The appellant was found guilty of one charge of being in possession of arms without a licence and one charge of being in possession of ammunition without a licence. He was sentenced to five years' imprisonment on each charge; the sentences to be concurrent. He appeals against his sentences.
2. On the 3rd March, 1976 in Bute Street, kowloon, the police set an ambush and picked up the appellant outside a certain restaurant. He was carrying a briefcase, inside of which the police found a 9mm revolver which was loaded with five rounds of ammunition and two other rounds of ammunition.
3. The appellant has three previous convictions, one of theft, one of robbery and one of handling stolen property. He was convicted of the last offence in 1974 when he was given two years' imprisonment.
4. Very recently, this court had to deal with an appeal which was almost on all fours with the present case. In that case, a man was found in possession of a revolver and ammunition. He was sentenced to four years' imprisonment. He appealed against that sentence but the appeal was dismissed. He had a clear record. In dismissing the appeal, the Court observed that though the sentence of four years was high this was a particularly serious offence and that possession of firearms by unauthorized persons seemed to be on the increase: the sentence of four years' imprisonment was not too high in the circumstances.
5. We think that in the present case, because the facts are so close to the facts of the previous case, it would be right for us to reduce the sentences of five years' imprisonment to four years' imprisonment. Treating this application for leave to appeal as the appeal itself, we order that the appeal be allowed to the extent that the two sentences of five years' imprisonment be reduced to two sentences of four years' imprisonment, the sentences to be concurrent.
| (Geoffrey Briggs) | |
| President. |
Representation:
Appellant in person.
Reid for crown.