HKSAR v. SO TSZ HIN

DCCC744/2011

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 744 OF 2011

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of a dangerous drug, contrary to section 8(1)(a) and (2) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Chapter 134, Laws of Hong Kong, the particulars being that you on 23 February of this year had in your possession 23.9 grammes of a powder containing 17.90 grammes of ketamine. In addition, you have also pleaded guilty to a charge of resisting a police officer acting in the due execution of his duty, contrary to section 63 of the Police Force Ordinance, Chapter 232, Laws of Hong Kong.

2.  The amended Summary of Facts which you have agreed quite simply establish that in the late evening of 23 February of this year, officers on anti-dangerous-drugs patrol saw you about to enter the premises named in Charge 1.  They intercepted you, revealed their identities which resulted in a commotion, in the course of which you struggled with the officers, refusing to be subdued despite repeated warnings, leading to you being charged with the offence named in Charge 2.

3.  Upon entry into the premises, you were searched, and inside the right pocket of your jacket, two plastic bags containing the drugs, being the subject matter of Charge 1, were found.  You told the police at the time that the ketamine was for your own consumption.

4.  You are 18 years of age and already have a poor criminal record which includes offences of theft, robbery, and yesterday you appeared before Kowloon City Magistrates and were sent to a drug addiction treatment centre in relation to another charge of possession of ketamine which occurred in January of this year.

5.  I have had the benefit of reading the further probation officer’s report and the drug addiction treatment centre report which were before the learned magistrate yesterday prior to sentencing.  You are a drug dependent and it is of course on that basis that the magistrate sentenced you to a drug addiction treatment centre.

6.  The probation report is very poor.  You are described as being rebellious and wayward, and you have, in the opinion of the probation officer at least, shown no proper remorse for repeatedly breaking the law.  In addition, it is said that you told the probation officer that you had taken ketamine as recently as 5 September of this year in order to enhance your chances of going to a drug addiction treatment centre.  This is of course an aggravating feature as it is clearly a fact that the present two offences for which you today appear before this court were committed whilst you were on bail in relation to the previous charge of possession of dangerous drugs. 

7.  You must be very clear in your own mind that this court would be perfectly entitled to consider a sentence of somewhere in the region of 18 months’ imprisonment in respect of the two charges for which you appear before me.  However, despite all of this, you are still relatively young, only 18, in need of drug treatment and have already spent some seven months or so behind bars on remand prior to you being put on bail. 

8.  This is very much of a borderline case, but I have decided, despite the aggravating features that I have mentioned, to take an exceptional course and not send you to prison today.  I take this course in the hope that you will be fully aware that you are most unlikely to be given similar chances in the future.

9.  With regard to Charge 1, I make a DATC order to run concurrently with the order made yesterday on 20 September 2011 in KCCC784 of 2011.  I record the conviction. 

10.  With regard to Charge 2, you will be fined $3,000.  Such sum can, I take it, be taken out of your bail.