COURT: The defendant had pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, namely 71.86 grammes of a solid containing 63.34 grammes of cocaine.
The facts reveal that on the night of 22 November 2012, the defendant was travelling in a taxi which was stopped at a roadblock. The defendant was also carrying a plastic bag, and when officers searched him, inside the plastic bag were found the drugs which he has been charged with.
The defendant was arrested and cautioned, and admitted that he was delivering these drugs to Langham Place for a reward of $500. On his person was also found HK$163 and two mobile telephones.
The estimated street value of the seized drugs were about HK$84,219.
The defendant is aged 48 and has a pretty poor record. He has 19 previous convictions, eight of which are dangerous drugs related. His last conviction was in 2011 for possession of dangerous drugs, for which he was sentenced to 6 months’ imprisonment, so it is clear that shortly after his release he committed this present offence, which was in November 2012.
There is nothing unusual in the defendant’s background. In his mitigation letter he alleged that he committed this present offence because of necessity. Again, he sought to blame the present offence on the fact that his mother is ill, and he claimed that he had turned over a new leaf since 2007.
That may ring true had he not committed the last offence which was in 2011 also for dangerous drugs. It is a poor record. The defendant has not shown any clear desire to keep away from dangerous drugs.
The Court of Appeal has laid down guidelines for sentencing in heroin in the case of Lau Tak Ming [1990] HKLR 370, and the Court of Appeal has said in 1994 in the case of Pedro Nel Rojas that the sentencing for trafficking in cocaine should follow the guidelines laid down in Lau Tak Ming, and therefore, according to the guidelines laid down for trafficking in 50 to 200 grammes, the sentence recommended is between 8 to 12 years.
In this case, the amount of cocaine is 63.34 grammes, which would merit a sentence of 8 to 8½ years.
So taking into account all that has been said, I will take 8 years as a starting point, reducing it by one‑third because of the defendant’s plea, and the sentence is therefore 5 years and 4 months.