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| The case was heard at the District Court in Wanchai |
A Filipino resident who admitted entering a shop in Causeway Bay and taking a safe, $58,000 in cash and three mobile phones, was sentenced today in the District Court to 19 months in jail for burglary.
Manuel Sy Jr., 38 years old, was jailed along with Alexander
O’Neill, a Briton who was sentenced to 12 months for handling stolen property.
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Deputy District Judge Jocelyn Leung noted that Sy had three earlier
convictions, having been fined $1,000 for shoplifting in March 2018, jailed 2
weeks for shoplifting in July 2018, and jailed two years and two months for
burglary on 14 May 2019.
"In my view, D1’s remorse is highly questionable. He
committed a similar offence within a short period of time," she said in
her decision released today.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
Sy had pleaded guilty last Jan. 7 and offered to testify
against O’Neill, both of which were acknowledged by Judge Leung by reducing by
42 per cent the 33 months which she set as starting point for the sentence.
But she set aside other points in his lawyer’s plea for a
lighter sentence.
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“It was submitted by his counsel that D1 was remorseful for
committing the present offence. He was unemployed at the time of the offence
and had the urgency to financially provide for his three children. He worked
very hard at his last job and intends to ask his previous employer to hire him
and hopes that he does, so that he can make a fresh start to life,” she noted.
She also cited Sy’s letter expressing
his remorse. “He mentioned that he committed the present offence out of
economic reason i.e. to make provision for his children in the Philippines. He
said that during his remand, he has taken steps to rehabilitate by following
religion practice and has shown determination to improve his behavior. He
promised not to commit any further crime and asked for the Court’s leniency.”
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But Sy’s “personal circumstances
do not constitute any valid grounds for reduction in the sentence,” she said.
The case arose after Sy and a man he identified as Cloyd entered
a ground floor unit shop inside the Haven Court on Leighton Road in Causeway
Bay (“the Shop”) at 4am on June 26, 2021 and stole one safe, cash of $58,000 and
three mobile phones.
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Sy had claimed that Cloyd, who was not charged in this case,
used a tool to cut the lock of the shop and he was very scared so he stepped back.
Judge Leung recounted: “Cloyd then entered the shop and
asked him to enter as well. After entering the shop, Cloyd passed him an object
similar to the shape of a microwave oven. The object was heavy. They then left
the Shop.”
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The CCTV recorded
the two as they left the shop, with Sy carrying the safe.
O’Neill, who pleaded not guilty, got involved in the case when
he accompanied the two an hour later to a buyer named Howard.
“In my opinion, D2’s handling provided an opportune and
convenient assistance to D1 and Cloyd in the burglary,” the judge said.
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| PADALA NA! |
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