HKSAR v. LAM WAI KEI

 DCCC192/2010

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 192 OF 2010

--------------------

--------------------

---------------------

Reasons for Sentence

---------------------

1.  The Defendant pleads guilty to one count of trafficking in dangerous drugs.

2.  At about 1308 hours on 31 December 2008, one police officer was patrolling in the vicinity of the rear lane of No. 47 Station Lane, Hung Hom, Kowloon. He saw the Defendant looking around and acting furtively. That police officer then stopped the Defendant for inquiries.

3.  Upon search, the police officer found a piece of red paper wrapping: (i) eight packets of suspected ketamine; and (ii) 22 packets of suspected nimetazepam, each containing 10 tablets, a total of 220 tablets; and (iii) a number of empty resealable plastic bags. That police officer then arrested the Defendant for the offence of trafficking in dangerous drugs.

4.  Upon examination of the suspected drugs, the Government Chemist found that there were a total of 53.36 grammes of a powder containing 20.69 grammes of ketamine and 22 foil packs containing a total of 220 tablets containing 1.48 grammes of nimetazepam.

5.  According to the police, the street values of the ketamine and the nimetazepam in the present case were $6,403 and $13,640 respectively.

6.  The Defendant is aged 26 and he has a clear record. After completing Form 5 education, he took a diploma course in hotel and tourism. Between 2005 and 2008, he worked as a waiter in one of the prestigious hotels in Hong Kong. While appreciating his inadequacy in English, he took an English course organised by the British Council sometime in 2005 and 2006.

7.  The documents produced by the defence counsel also show that the Defendant took part in various sporting activities and worked as a volunteer sometime in the year 2000 and 2001. After quitting the job of the waiter in the hotel, the Defendant worked as a supervisor in a bar in the Tsim Sha Tsui area with a higher salary of $10,000 a month. Unfortunately, he mixed with some of the bad peers in the bar. He became a drug addict. Without able to resist the temptation of money, he acted as a courier for the drug trade, earning $500 per trip. According to the defence counsel, this was actually the first trip when he worked for the people in the drug trade.

8.  The Defendant married a Mainland lady in 2008 and he has to provide monthly maintenance of $4,000 to his wife. It was also because of financial pressure that the Defendant committed the present offence.

9.  Sentencing a young man with a clear record is always not easy for the court. In particular, the evidence suggests that the Defendant was quite a positive young man until he started to work in a bar in 2008. However, drug trafficking in dangerous drugs is always a very serious offence. Drug abuse is now common in Hong Kong, in particular amongst young persons, and the court must send a clear and loud message that such kind of offence will not be tolerated by the court. The court has also repeatedly emphasised that by reason of the seriousness of such kind of offence, the personal circumstances of the accused will count for very little.

10.  There is established sentencing guideline for trafficking in ketamine. According to the case of the Secretary for Justice v Hii Siew Cheng [2009] 1 HKLRD 1, trafficking of ketamine in the region of 10 to 50 grammes would attract a sentence of 5 to 6 years’ imprisonment.

11.  As about 20 grammes of ketamine was involved in the present case, I adopt a starting point of 4½ years’ imprisonment. The amount of nimetazepam was relatively small in the present case. Although the street value of such kind of drug was actually higher than ketamine, I am prepared not to increase the starting point further by reason of the nimetazepam found on the Defendant. Giving the Defendant one-third discount for his plea of guilty, the sentence is reduced to 3 years’ imprisonment.