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HCCC104/2009
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 104 OF 2009
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| Date: |
11 June 2009 at 10.02 am |
| Present: |
Ms Christal Chan, SPP, of the Department of Justice,for HKSAR
Mr Giles Surman, instructed by Martin Law & Co., for the Accused |
| Offence: |
Trafficking in a dangerous drug(販運危險藥物) |
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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case
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COURT: The 44-year-old defendant was committed to this court for sentence pursuant to section 81B of the Magistrates Ordinance after pleading guilty at Eastern Magistracy to an offence of trafficking in: 54.17 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride (“Ice”); 0.05 grammes of cocaine; 0.01 grammes of tetrahydrocannabinol; 1.31 grammes of methamphetamine; and 0.30 grammes of heroin.
The facts were that police executed a search warrant in respect of the defendant’s apartment at a hotel in Kowloon City and found the charged drugs on a coffee table in the sitting room. The defendant had been watching television in the same room.
I adopt the combined approach to sentencing for a mixture of drugs approved of in R v Yip Wai Yin [2004] 3 HKC at 367. So far as the quantity of Ice found is concerned, I adopt a starting point of 9 years’ imprisonment. Given the minute quantity of tetrahydrocannabinol, I ignore that drug for the purpose of sentencing. Nor do the quantities of the other more serious drugs involved - methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin - in my opinion substantially alter considerations of sentence.
However, the starting point of 9 years’ imprisonment is enhanced by 1 year to one of 10 years’ imprisonment to reflect the abysmal criminal history of the defendant, which in addition to drug related offences includes various other offences going back some 25 years. In enhancing the starting point of sentence by that amount, I take into account that the majority of his drug offences were for simple possession.
The only mitigation available to the defendant is his plea of guilty. He gets full allowance for that and is sentenced to 6 years 8 months’ imprisonment.
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