Acting Chief Magistrate Mr. David Cheung sentenced the Defendant to a suspended sentence, who was charged with making a false representation to an Immigration Assistant (contrary to section 42(1)(a) of the Immigration Ordinance), on exceptional grounds. This significantly departs from the standard tariff of 18 months’ imprisonment for such type of offences.

While the Defendant used a passport with an incorrect birthday date, the Magistrate found that the Defendant (a) did not have any sinister motive; (b) did not use a forged passport; and (c) did take steps to correct her passport by approaching the relevant authorities. Given the Defendant has essentially volunteered her crime to the authorities and that she has taken steps to rectify the mistake, the Defendant eventually received a sentence of 3 months’ imprisonment suspended for 18 months.

We are grateful for the assistance of Mr. Francis Ngan of Tower Chambers (instructed by Daly & Associates) appearing for the Defendant.