CRIMINAL CASE NO. 231 OF 2011
COURT: The defendant, aged 31, pleaded guilty to the two charges of trafficking against her when she appeared in the Magistrates Court on 24 June 2011. Those pleas have been confirmed in the course of these proceedings.
The defendant was intercepted on the staircase outside her flat in To Kwa Wan Road on 18 November 2010, when she was found in possession of three resealable bags containing 90 pellets, the narcotic content of which, on later analysis, was found to be 12.17 grammes of heroin hydrochloride. She admitted immediately that she was delivering the heroin to others for profit.
The police then used the defendant’s keys to enter her flat. Heroin hydrochloride was found in several places. The total narcotic content from a mixture weighing 974.2 grammes was 815.33 grammes. The defendant admitted that she had purchased and packaged the heroin herself. The value of these drugs was, all told, $743,182.
Numerous resealable bags and an electronic balance were found in the flat, together with a bag containing over 270 grammes of caffeine. There was other paraphernalia connected with the packaging, dilution and distribution of dangerous drugs.
The guidelines for sentence in heroin cases are provided by the case of The Queen v Lau Tak Ming [1990] 2 HKLR at 370, which makes provision for amounts of up to 600 grammes of heroin for which a sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment is the suggested tariff. Above that amount, the tariffs are set out in HKSAR v Anwar Abbas Abdallah [2009] 2 HKC 197, and for amounts of between 600 and 1,200 grammes of heroin, a sentencing band of 20 to 23 years is provided.
The starting point in this case for the 1st charge will be 5 years’ imprisonment and I propose to take a starting point for the 2nd charge of 21 years’ imprisonment. Of course, you will receive the full credit for your timely plea.
Would you stand up, please. The sentence on the 1st charge is one of 3 years and 4 months. The sentence on the 2nd charge is 14 years’ imprisonment. Those two sentences are to run concurrently. In total, therefore, your sentence is 14 years.