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HCCC 201/2013
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO 201 OF 2013
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HKSAR |
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Siu Chor-hung |
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| Before: |
Deputy High Court Judge Stuart-Moore |
| Date: |
26 July 2013 at 9.46 am |
| Present: |
Mr Bobby Cheung, SPP (Ag) of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR |
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Mr Bowie Yip Wing-san, instructed by Benjamin Au & Billy Chan, assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the accused |
| Offence: |
Trafficking in a dangerous drug(販運危險藥物) |
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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case
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COURT: On 10 May 2013, the defendant, who is now aged 50, pleaded guilty in the magistrates’ court to a charge of trafficking in a crystalline solid containing 15.89 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride or “Ice” and some powder containing 0.08 of a gramme of ketamine. The drugs were found in the defendant’s flat when the police executed a search warrant there on 13 November 2012. Amongst the items found at the flat were over 800 resealable empty plastic bags and an electronic scale. The “Ice” that was found in the flat was wrapped in six separate packets and it is said to be worth at street value approximately $11,699.
For sentencing purposes, the very small quantity of ketamine adds nothing to the gravity of the case against the defendant because the “Ice” is a very much more significant factor.
The defendant immediately took full responsibility for the drugs, saying that he had to resort to selling “Ice” to earn money while he was unemployed. Mr Siu has indicated that there were debts in the family which needed to be repaid. The defendant has no relevant previous convictions.
Now, after trial, under the sentencing guidelines in AG v Ching Kwok Hung [1991] 2 HKLR 125, the amount in this case of “Ice” would justify under the suggested guidelines a term of between 7 and 10 years imprisonment for amounts of between 10 and 70 grammes of “Ice”.
Mr Siu, would you stand please. You have pleaded guilty in good time and will receive full credit for doing so. I would normally take a starting point of 7 years and 3 months’ imprisonment, but I fully accept that you were a drug addict paying for your own addiction by selling drugs. Some of the drugs, therefore, would have been consumed by you. Taking, therefore, a starting point of 7 years’ imprisonment, the sentence is reduced to 4 years and 8 months’ imprisonment. So that is the sentence.
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