CRIMINAL CASE NO. 442 OF 2010
COURT: The defendant pleads guilty to two counts of trafficking in a dangerous drug. There were 163.4 grammes of cocaine in the 1st charge and 0.17 grammes of cocaine in the 2nd charge respectively.
On 20 August 2010 at about 8 pm, the defendant and a male took a taxi from Sceneway Garden to Yuen Long. At about 8.40 pm, a police officer observed a taxi arriving at the entrance of Hang Mei Tsuen, Yuen Long. The defendant and a male alighted the taxi. The defendant then boarded a private car there. A short while later the defendant alighted the private car carrying a brown plastic bag. She and the male took the same taxi back to Sceneway Garden, Kwun Tong.
At about 9.20 pm, the taxi arrived at Block 9 of Sceneway Garden. It was intercepted by a team of police officers. A police officer seized the brown paper bag carried by the defendant. Inside this paper bag was another black plastic bag containing a transparent plastic bag with cocaine the subject matter of the 1st charge.
The defendant admitted under caution that she knew there was a dangerous drug in the paper bag. Another packet of cocaine was later found inside the pocket of the defendant’s jeans. It is the subject matter of the 2nd charge. The defendant admitted under caution that it was for her own consumption.
The defendant is 31 years old. She finished Form 5 education. Her daughter is 14 years old, now taken care of by her mother. The defendant worked as a property agent before this offence. She earned about $7,000 a month. She has two previous convictions for possession of DD and possession of instrument for inhaling DD. They were in 1999. She is not a drug addict.
The defendant committed these offences for quick money. The defendant submits a letter indicating that she is very remorseful and pleads for leniency so that she can reunite with her daughter as early as possible.
For trafficking in cocaine, the sentencing tariff set out in HKSAR v Lau Tak Ming [1990] 2 HKLR 370 is applicable. For 50 to 200 grammes of cocaine the starting point should be 8 to 12 years’ imprisonment. For the 1st charge, there were 163.4 grammes of cocaine. The starting point should be 11 years’ imprisonment. The defendant is entitled to 44 months discount for her plea.
Having considered her background and the circumstances of this case, there is no ground for further reduction. I sentence her to 7 years and 4 months’ imprisonment for the 1st charge.
For the 2nd charge, there were 0.17 grammes of cocaine. The starting point should be 2 years’ imprisonment. The defendant is entitled to 8 months’ discount for her plea. I sentence her to 16 months’ imprisonment for the 2nd charge.
Both charges arose from the same incident. I order the sentences to run concurrently. The defendant has to serve a total of 7 years and 4 months’ imprisonment.