HKSAR v. LI JIANYU

DCCC 942/2012

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO 942 OF 2012

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to three charges, the first being an offence of trafficking in dangerous drugs, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and 3 of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap.134, Laws of Hong Kong, the particulars being that you on 7 July of this year at the search room in the arrivals hall of Lok Ma Chau Control Point, you unlawfully trafficked in 9.91 grammes of heroin, 26 tablets containing 0.34 grammes of midazolam and 0.51 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride.

2.  The second and third charges are offences under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, Cap.109, Laws of Hong Kong, and relate to your being in possession of 401 cigarettes (that is Charge 2) and failing to declare them (that is Charge 3).

3.  The facts of this case, which you have agreed, speak for themselves and quite simply establish that on the day and at the place named in the charge, these drugs were found on you upon your arrival in Hong Kong, together with the cigarettes, after you had passed through the “Nothing to Declare” channel.

4.  You were arrested and admitted under caution that the drugs were for your own consumption.

5.  By way of mitigation, it has been said on your behalf that although you did bring these drugs into Hong Kong from the Mainland and, therefore, quite properly, charged with trafficking, that these drugs were, in fact, for your own consumption.

6.  In support of that proposition is a letter from the medical officer at Tai Lam Centre for Women, who confirms that upon your admission to this institution shortly after your arrest, indeed, on 9 July of this year, a sample of your urine tested positive for “Ice” and that you probably were a drug dependent.

7.  It has also been put before me that you started taking drugs some two years ago because you became depressed when you discovered that your husband was having an affair.  Your addiction to drugs steadily increased over time, to the extent that by April of 2012, you were taking drugs on a daily basis.

8.  You are 43 years of age, married but separated from your husband, although, I understand, living under the same roof with him. You have two children, a boy and a girl, 12 and 15 years respectively.

9.  You have no previous convictions for drug-related offences.  Indeed, you have no prior convictions at all, save for an offence for breach of condition of stay, which I will ignore for the purposes of sentencing.

10.  Regarding the sentence on the 1st charge, which involves a cocktail of drugs, I propose to adopt the combined approach and, as the vast majority of drugs involved was heroin (9.91 grammes), the proper starting point would be in the vicinity of 4½ years’ imprisonment.

11.  Taking account of the smaller quantities of other drugs involved - that is, 0.35 grammes of midazolam and 0.52 grammes of “Ice” - I propose to increase that starting point to one of 5 years’ imprisonment.

12.  You are entitled to a one-third deduction in sentence to take account of your plea of guilty to this charge, coming to 40 months’ imprisonment in relation to Charge 1.

13.  I am prepared to accept that you have these drugs on you for your own consumption and I will, therefore, give you a further discount in sentence of 12 months to reflect this, coming to an overall sentence of 28 months’ imprisonment on Charge 1.

14.  In relation to Charges 2 and 3, I impose a sentence of 1-month imprisonment on each charge, to run concurrently with each other and concurrently to Charge 1, coming to a total sentence of 28 months’ imprisonment in all.