Eddie So

Eddie So Chee Kong was found guilty of seven counts of offering an advantage to a public servant and one of conspiring to offer an advantage to a public servant. The offences took place over several years and So was said to be a key figure in a number of corrupt offers, with the assistance of Warwick Reid, to subvert and weaken prosecutions launched or completed against persons represented by So.

So was initially sentenced to seven years imprisonment for each count and the sentences were ordered to run concurrently. The Attorney General applied for a review of the sentences on the ground that it was wrong in principle for them to run concurrently as each involved a separate and distinct transaction.

So resisted the Attorney General's application on the ground that he was truly remorseful ("he now throws himself without reservation as to his criminality upon the mercy of this court") and that his mental health would deteriorate if his sentence was extended ("that regrettably may be so" was the comment of Power, V-P of the court of appeal) and that the court should compare the sentence imposed on Reid, "bearing in mind the overall criminality" of So and Reid (the court of appeal found "no real assistance from the making of such a comparison").

The court also said that while So had "at the eleventh hour" demonstrated a degree of remorse and co-operation but little weight can be given to such remorse, "coming as it did after trial, after conviction and after sentence". As to his health deterioration, "it is a matter for the Prison Authorities to see that he receives proper medical attention".

The court of appeal agreed with the Attorney General that it was wrong to make the sentences concurrent and substituted an overall sentence of nine years, taking into account the matters of the case.

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