COURT: On 7 September last year, the two of you were intercepted at Lok Ma Chau Control Point when you were entering Hong Kong from the mainland. When you were searched, no drugs were immediately found although your possessions gave an indication of the presence of drugs somewhere. You were taken to North District Hospital and it was found that you had drugs concealed within your body cavities.
The 1st accused, you had three pellets which contained just over 54 grammes of heroin hydrochloride. The 2nd accused, you had two pellets contained internally with just over 32 grammes of heroin.
The 1st accused, you initially claimed that you had gone to the mainland to buy the heroin for your own consumption. I am told today that that was untrue and that, in fact, you were carrying all of these drugs, or arranging for them to be carried, for a financial reward.
The 2nd accused, you told the investigators that you were carrying the two pellets on behalf of the 1st accused. The 1st accused subsequently confirmed that he had given you those two pellets to carry because he was unable to conceal them in his own body.
Understandably, therefore, the 1st accused was charged with, pleaded guilty to and admitted the facts in relation to the entire quantity of heroin, namely 86.38 grammes, while, 2nd accused, you were charged with, pleaded guilty to and admitted the facts in regard only to the quantity that you were actually carrying, 32.09 grammes.
As you’ve obviously been told by your counsel, there are guidelines laid down for these types of offence by the Court of Appeal. The 1st accused, the quantity that you trafficked falls in the band between 50 and 200 grammes which indicates a period of imprisonment of 8 to 12 years. The amount you had suggests to me a starting point of 8 years and 9 months’ imprisonment before any enhancement.
The 2nd accused, in your case, the quantity falls in the band between 10 and 50 grammes, indicating a starting point between 5 and 8 years. The appropriate starting point for the quantity you had before any enhancement is 6 years and 6 months.
First accused, you have seven previous drug-related convictions, two offences of trafficking in drugs. They might be fairly old offences, the trafficking, as your counsel has pointed out to me on your behalf, that this being your third specific offence of trafficking, your sentence will be enhanced by 6 months.
Second accused, you have 10 drug-related convictions of which three are for trafficking, although two of those, I recognise, were on the same day. Similarly, your sentence starting point will be enhanced by 6 months.
Then there is the fact that you were importing these drugs into Hong Kong. That introduces what is now referred to as the ‘international element’. I am correctly reminded by counsel for the 1st defendant that the Court of Appeal has indicated that where the international element comes into play, enhancement of at least 2 years - or “not less than” I think are the exact words in the decision - is appropriate where the quantity exceeds a kilogram.
The current sentencing practice in the Court of First Instance is that even for small quantities, or smallish quantities like you have imported, the enhancement is not less than a year. That is the amount by which each of your sentences’ starting point will be enhanced.
That means, 1st accused, that the starting point of your sentence, before any allowances, is 10 years and 3 months and in your case, 2nd accused, the starting point before any allowance is 8 years.
It is always unfortunate to hear people who themselves are long-term drug dependants who come before the court, asking the court to show mercy to them. You both have extensive drug experience over, in the case of the 1st accused, about 20 years and of the 2nd accused, about 15 years. It is no exaggeration to say that the drugs have completely ruined your lives. You have been in and out of gaol; you have been in and out of Drug Addiction Treatment Centre. You have, between you, a young child who, one would have thought, would have motivated you to cease your involvement with drugs, but not so.
You know, from your own personal experiences, just how devastating the effects of drugs can be on people and their families and yet, for a small amount of money, you are quite happy, quite happy, to introduce drugs into our community in Hong Kong.
The only mitigation which is available to you is your respective pleas of guilty. Given that these drugs were concealed inside your respective bodies, it is hard to think you would have been able to do other than plead guilty, but that aside, you are entitled for the full one-third discount. There is nothing in your personal circumstances or in the circumstances of this particular offence that entitles you to any further reduction in sentence.
The 1st accused, you are to undergo imprisonment for a period of 6 years and 10 months.
The 2nd accused, you are to undergo imprisonment for a period of 5 years and 4 months.