HKSAR v. LAM MAN LUNG

DCCC177/2010

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 177 OF 2010

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  The defendant pleaded guilty to two offences. The first offence is an offence of trafficking in 9.35 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, otherwise known as “ice”, and small quantities of cocaine and cannabis. The offence was committed on 29 November 2008.

2.  On the same occasion the defendant was found in possession of a small quantity of sildenafil, which is otherwise known as “Viagra”, which is a Part I poison.

3.  The facts admitted by the defendant are that, on 29 November 2008, at 5.52 in the late afternoon, an officer intercepted the defendant who was driving his private vehicle along Yim Po Fong Street in Mong Kok.  The defendant was searched and the drugs were found either in the jacket he was wearing or in a bag inside the vehicle.  The defendant said, under caution, that they were for his own consumption.  A police investigation disclosed that the defendant was the owner of the vehicle he was driving.  I am told that as regards the value of the “ice”, it is worth about $6,700, and the cocaine $1,200.

4.  The defendant has appeared before the courts on eight previous occasions in relation to 17 offences.  Eight of those offences were for possession of dangerous drugs, and three of them were for possession of Part I poison.  He has been to the drug addiction treatment centre on three occasions. 

5.  In mitigation I was told that the defendant is 55 years of age.  He was married and divorced in 2006.  He has daughters aged 6 and 11, who are taken care of by his mother-in-law.  He was educated in Hong Kong to Form 5 standard, and at the time of his arrest was working for a financial institution, earning some $20,000 per month, out of which he had to pay maintenance for his two daughters.  The offences were committed some time ago in November 2008, and I was told that the reason for all the delay in bringing him before the courts is because of his medical condition.  Two medical reports have been submitted, one from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and one from the Ruttonjee and Tang Shiu Kin Hospital Group. 

6.  The defendant has suffered from major heart problems, and he also has diabetes and a number of other complications.  These conditions have required hospitalisation over the last few years.  I was told that the defendant is a drug addict, and one of the reasons he does take drugs is to alleviate the pain from his medical condition.

7.  The defendant has pleaded guilty to trafficking, and I propose to give him full credit for his guilty plea.  Although initially he pleaded not guilty, when certain evidence was disclosed by the prosecution he changed his plea, so I propose to give him the full one-third discount for the guilty plea. 

8.  As counsel has rightly acknowledged, the trafficking in almost 10 grammes of “ice” attracts a sentence of 7 years' imprisonment.  In addition to the “ice” he had a small quantity of cocaine and a very small quantity of cannabis. 

9.  The defendant is a drug addict, and it was submitted that some of the drugs were for his own consumption.  And I propose to take that into account when considering the sentence.

10.  I propose to take a starting point of 6½ years' imprisonment for the first offence and reduce that by one-third to reflect the guilty plea.  So the sentence that I impose for Charge 1 is 4 years and 4 months' imprisonment. 

11.  In respect of the 2nd charge, I sentence the defendant to 4 weeks’ imprisonment, that sentence to run concurrently with the period of imprisonment for Charge 1. 

12.  So the total sentence would be 4 years and 4 months.