Combined sentence reduced

A MAN who is serving two jail terms totalling nine years and nine months yesterday succeeded in having the overall penalty reduced to seven years.

The Court of Appeal, comprising Vice-President Mr Justice Silke, Mr Justice Macdougall and Mr Justice Jones, in allowing the application of Chan Yee-lap, agreed that the sentence was too high.

They also held that the sentencing judge had failed to give appropriate consideration that Chan had alerted the police about a robbery, although it was too late to save the victim from suffocating to death in a blanket.

Chan, 22, had admitted to robbery and was sentenced to five years' jail by Mr Justice Gall, who ordered the sentence to start after a sentence of four years and nine months for two drug offences had expired.

The appeal court yesterday ordered that two years and nine months of the robbery sentence should be concurrent with the other term.

The court heard that on June 27, 1990, a man by the name of Tsang broke into a So Uk estate flat, where he overpowered Miss Fok Mei-ho, 18, tied her up and covered her with a blanket.

He was joined by Chan and two other robbers.

While they were ransacking the premises, Chan became concerned about Miss Fok and made an anonymous call to the police.