HKSAR v. CHAN KA WAI

DCCC68/2009

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 68 OF 2009

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Reasons for Sentence

1.  It is a sad day to have to sentence a young man of 18 to a long term of imprisonment.  Drug traffickers often make use of young people and sometimes old people to traffic drugs.  The defendant was 17 at the time of the offence.  It is not an extremely young age.  The defendant knew what he was up to, and he has to bear the full legal consequences of his act.

2.  In court today, the defendant’s parents, relatives, friends, probably a social worker as well are in court.  They are all here because they are concerned; they care for you.   And we could all see the tragic consequences of a young man who had been led astray and committed a very serious offence.

3.  In offences like trafficking in dangerous drugs, the personal background of the defendant, his age and his previous good record, or relatively good record, carried little weight.  The Appeal Court had laid down guidelines and very stringent sentence to deal with such offences and the overriding principle for this type of offence is one of deterrence, and the sentence is basically punitive.  Since 6 June last year, 2008, for trafficking in ketamine, very stringent sentence guidelines have been laid down.

4.  The only mitigating factor in this case I could see is the defendant's plea of guilty and for which he should be given the full one-third discount.  Forty-two grammes of ketamine is a huge amount, and the starting point for sentence for this amount is five and a half years.  With the discount of one-third, I therefore sentence the defendant to 44 months’ imprisonment.