with the offence for which he stood trial until 12 November 2013. In a witness statement taken on the day of the Identification Parade, Jacky Ma said that Sai Fai was a man he met at the home of Tang Chong Hou on the morning of 27 October 2009 and with whom he and Tang travelled to the District Court where the attack on Mr Mitchell took place. In a non-prejudicial statement, dated 7 March 2011, in their description of the overall events, Jacky Ma had described the role of Sai Fai, in particular of having gone up to Mr Mitchell after the attack.
67. Clearly, the affirmation permitted a line of cross-examination, by Mr McNamara of Jacky Ma, that he was motivated to secure a reduction in the sentence of imprisonment imposed on him on the basis that not only had he given a detailed statement to the police describing the conduct of other defendants but also he was prepared to testify against them, including the applicant. Also, it was relevant to the issue of whether or not he knew what range of discount to anticipate for having given evidence for the prosecution against an accomplice. In effect, he had asserted in his affirmation that a discount of 50% from starting point of the sentence was appropriate in circumstances where, having pleaded guilty, an accomplice gave evidence against an accomplice who was convicted after trial.
68. In cross-examination by Mr McNamara, Jacky Ma accepted that his application for leave to appeal against sentence out-of-time had been adjourned, on the application of his counsel, until after the trial of the