The Government has asked the Court of Appeal to lay down sentencing guidelines for shoplifters after a magistrate broke ranks and adopted a more lenient approach in dealing with five cases earlier this year.
Director of Public Prosecutions Grenville Cross, SC, told the Court of Appeal yesterday that the sentences Magistrate Peter White passed on five shoplifters - all of whom had clear records, and who had stolen items ranging from shampoo to razor blades - were too lenient.
Tse Sheung-kai, 41, Ho Yui-sing, 18, Wong Ngong-shan, 46, Ng Po-ping, 32, and Cheung Mar-luk, 59, each pleaded guilty on January 9 this year before Mr White at Western Court to one charge of theft. Each was given an absolute discharge.
Mr Cross said the Department of Justice was not seeking increases to the sentences imposed on the five defendants.
'The object of this application is to give the court the opportunity of issuing guidance to this magistrate, and perhaps also to other magistrates, who might wish to consider the appropriateness of absolute discharges as a means of disposal for offences of shoplifting,' Mr Cross said.
An absolute discharge involves a criminal conviction that results in no fine or imprisonment.