Prisoner’s punishment corrected following extradition and sentencing errors

The Court of Appeal has quashed a prisoner’s conviction for failing to surrender to custody and credited 100 days against his sentence following a referral made by the Criminal Cases Review Commission in September 2022.

Joseph Tsang was sentenced to 15 ½ years in prison for sexual offences and failing to surrender in custody. The CCRC referred his case to the courts due to concerns about the lawfulness of one of the convictions and the sentence.

During its review, the CCRC found that the authorities in Hong Kong had not provided consent for Mr Tsang to be prosecuted for failing to surrender to custody, making that conviction unlawful.

The review also found that the sentence failed to recognise that Mr Tsang had spent several months on electronically monitored curfew and served time in prison in Hong Kong before being extradited.

On 15 March 2023, the Court allowed the appeal against conviction with the result that Mr Tsang’s sentence was reduced to 15 years imprisonment. The Court also ordered that the 100 days spent on qualifying curfew will count towards his sentence.

The CCRC did not refer Mr Tsang’s convictions for sexual offences to the Court of Appeal.