Four men that robbed a jewellery shop in daylight in a busy Hong Kong district and went away with HK$ 23.1 million worth of expensive jewellery in 2018 were sentenced to up to eight years in prison by a Hong Kong court on Friday.
In the High Court during sentencing, Mr Justice Joseph Yau Chi-lap said the crime was well organised and carefully planned.
“The robbery took place in broad daylight. This shows the blatant disregard for the law and safety of other people by those involved in the present case,” he said.
They pleaded guilty earlier this year to a combined charge of robbery for stealing 33 Swiss watches and six American-made leather bracelets from the VIP Watch & Jewellery shop in Tsim Sha Tsui on July 1, 2018.
In connection with the robbery, 11 people have been charged with robbery, arson, handling stolen goods and assisting an offender with the case.
Police were able to retrieve 25 of the stolen watches, a total value of HK$16.3 million with the assistance of mainland authorities while the rest of the watches and bracelets could not be gotten.
Among the three men that carried out the robbery in the store was 22 years old Courier Lau Chak-shing who was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison. The two others escaped and not yet capture, including the mastermind of the robbery.
The two men that were on lookouts, 44 years old Ricky Chai Chi-wah, a construction worker and 46 years renovator Liu Kei-wing, sentenced to 8 years each in prison.
The driver, 32 years old Chan King-lung who took the gang to escape was given 7.5 years in jail. He also pleaded guilty to a count of arson for setting the vehicle ablaze soon after the crime to destroy evidence.
Another was 41-year-old Suen Ka-in. He was jailed for two years and nine months for handling eight of the stolen watches and selling half of them to repay his debts.
Robbery and arson both carry a maximum jail sentence of life imprisonment. Handling stolen goods and assisting an offender is punishable by up to 14 years and 10 years behind bars, respectively.
香港4名光天化日珠寶劫匪被判最高8年監禁
2018年，四名男子在香港繁忙城市光天化日之下搶劫一家珠寶店，並帶走價值2,310萬港元的昂貴珠寶，被香港法院判處最高八年徒刑。
週五在高等法院判刑時，法官邱智立表示，這起犯罪事件組織嚴密，計劃周密。
“搶劫發生在光天化日之下。 這表明涉案人員公然無視法律和他人安全。”他說。
今年早些時候，他們承認了一項綜合搶劫罪名，罪名是 2018 年 7 月 1 日從尖沙咀 VIP 鐘錶珠寶店盜竊 33 塊瑞士手錶和 6 個美國製造的皮革手鐲。
與這起搶劫案有關的 11 人被指控搶劫、縱火、處理贓物以及協助罪犯辦案。
在內地當局的協助下，警方成功追回25塊被盜手錶，總價值1,630萬港元，而其餘手錶和手鍊則未能取回。
在商店實施搶劫的三名男子中，有22歲的快遞員劉澤成，他被判處7.5年監禁。 另外兩人逃脫但尚未被捕，其中包括犯罪主謀。
兩名監視男子，44歲的建築工人柴志華和46歲的裝修工劉基榮，各被判入獄8年。
帶領團伙逃跑的司機陳景龍32歲，被判入獄7.5年。 他還承認犯有縱火罪，罪名是在案發後不久放火焚燒車輛以銷毀證據。
另一位是41歲的孫家仁，他因處理八塊被盜手錶並出售其中一半以償還債務而被判入獄兩年零九個月。
搶劫和縱火罪最高可判處無期徒刑。 處理贓物和協助犯罪者分別可判處最高 14 年和 10 年監禁。
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