HKSAR v. SZETO HON WAI

DCCC1354/2011

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 1354 OF 2011

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Reasons for Sentence

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1. Defendant, you pleaded guilty to two charges of trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to section 4(1)(a)&(3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance.

2. You admitted that on the 13th day of October 2011, at the lift lobby, 10th Floor of Low Block, Shek Yat House, Shek Lei Estate, Kwai Chung, New Territories, you unlawfully trafficked in 53.8 grammes of a powder containing 54.47 grammes of ketamine. 

3. In respect to the 2nd charge, you admitted that on the same day, at your home on the 2nd Floor of Yan Tung House, Tung Tau Estate, Wong Tai Sin, you unlawfully trafficked in 14.56 grammes of a powder containing 3.47 grammes of ketamine. 

4. At about 6.45 pm, on 13 October, a police officer saw you acting furtively outside the entrance of the ground floor of the Shek Yat House.  The officer then followed you up to the 10th Floor lobby and summoned for further police assistance.  A few minutes later another officer arrived, and you were then stopped and a search was conducted upon you.  As a result, five plastic bags containing the drugs as mentioned in Charge 1 were found in your shorts pocket.  At the time of the arrest you had on you a sum of $13,796.30 and two mobile phones.  Later that evening you were brought back to your home in Wong Tai Sin, and there officers found the drugs in respect of the 2nd charge. 

5. Under caution you admitted that the drugs were for sale because you were short of money. 

6. Your counsel, Miss Suzanne Sim, has mitigated fully and thoroughly on your behalf today.  I have taken into account all that she has had to say.  You are 25 years of age, single, live with your mother, and have six previous convictions, all of which was on two previous occasions.  Those offences were all of theft committed in 2007, for which you were sentenced to a detention centre.  You were released in July 2008.

7. Miss Sim informed me that in 2003 your father passed away.  Your mother suffers from disability and requires regular hospitalisation at the Kowloon Hospital, and your younger sibling is 20 and works part time, and thus you are really the main breadwinner.  You did work as a transportation worker, and then as a pamphlet distributor.  Otherwise the family lives on CSSA. 

8. You have been educated up to Form 3.  However, in view of you being an introvert and unable to express yourself clearly, you found it difficult to have gainful employment.  Therefore, without gainful employment you did not have sufficient income.  Further, as you were anxious about your family situation, particularly about your mother, you became worried and you turned to drugs for self-consumption.  I am informed that the reason why you were involved in these two offences was because your friend had owed you a $1,500, and as he was unable to pay he gave you the drugs instead. 

9. Trafficking dangerous drugs is a very, very serious offence.  Miss Sim has told me that she has advised you of the tariffs involved in trafficking dangerous drugs and has explained to you the sentence of immediate imprisonment. 

10. I am sympathetic to your situation having been such a young man losing your father and having to look after or have a mother that unfortunately has this disability when you are such a young man.  There are, however, always jobs out there however sometimes one just had to be a little more diligent.  To your advantage, you are healthy and have no disabilities.  I am sure that you would have learnt a hard lesson from commission of this offence.  I do sincerely hope that when you are released you will turn anew and make a good life ahead. 

11. As Miss Sim has told you, the tariffs are clearly set down in the case of Hii Siew Cheng.  For the total quantity of drugs involved, they were 18.94 grammes of ketamine in both charges.  Therefore I shall be sentencing you on the total quantity of drugs.  Given that quantity of drugs, I consider a starting point of 4 years and 3 months to be appropriate.  Having given you full credit for your plea of guilty, I reduce that term to one of 2 years 10 months’ imprisonment.

12. I, however, must sentence you individually for each charge of trafficking, and that sentence shall apply to the 1st charge. And for the 2nd charge the starting point shall be 2 years and 9 months, and reduced to 1 year and 10 months imprisonment.  Both sentences shall run concurrent to each other. 

13. Therefore the total sentence is 2 years and 10 months’ imprisonment.