在本案中,各辯方大律師亦試圖指出個別被告的行為在當晚整體事件中相對是屬於情節輕微的,但在Carid一案,LJ Sachs 在第507-508頁作出的另一個觀察,是指就暴動這類集體性質的暴力罪行而言,任何選擇參與的人,都是咎由自取,不論被告以何種方式參與暴動或非法集結,有關罪行的嚴重性是在於被告選擇成為其中一員,試圖以人數達至共同的非法目的。而任何嘗試要求法庭以個別被告所作的獨立行為作為判刑基礎,均屬錯誤的處理方法,因為被告並不是單獨行事,而控罪的嚴重性亦正正在於被告是以聚眾方式作出違法的行為。
原文是:
“Those who choose to take part in such unlawful occasions must do so at their peril. … Any participation whatever, irrespective of its precise form, in an unlawful or riotous assembly of this type derives its gravity from becoming one of those who, by weight of numbers, pursued a common and unlawful purpose. The law of this country has always leant heavily against those who, to attain such a purpose, use the threat that lies in the power of numbers. …Over and over again it was submitted on behalf of the applicants that their individual acts should be regarded as if they had been committed in isolation. … In the view of this Court, it is a wholly wrong approach to take the acts of any individual participator in isolation. They were not committed in isolation and, as already indicated, it is that very fact that constitutes the gravity of the offence.”
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