HKSAR v. CHAN FUNG TING SALINA

DCCC106/2012

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 106 OF 2012

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to the amended charge of possession of dangerous drugs, contrary to section 8(1)(a) and (2) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap.134, Laws of Hong Kong, the particulars being that you on 7 December of last year outside Bellevue Heights, Tai Hang Drive, Hong Kong, you had in your possession 30.62 grammes of a powder containing 10.38 grammes of ketamine.

2.  The summary of facts which you have agreed are quite straightforward and establish that at about 11.30 on the day in question, you were intercepted coming out of your home.

3.  You were searched, and inside your handbag, three separate packets were found containing the drugs.

4.  Under caution, you told the arresting officer that the drugs were for your own consumption.  This, you repeated later on at Happy Valley Police Station to the officer who conducted a cautioned video interview with you.

5.  You are 24 years of age now and come from a good, stable family background; indeed, one might even say privileged family background.  You have three previous convictions now for drug-related offences.

6.  You started toying with drugs, particularly ketamine and cocaine in 2006, and in 2007 you were first convicted of possession of dangerous drugs, since when your life seems to have been spiralling out of control, due to the problems that you have had with drugs.

7.  To your credit, you had been trying to do something about it.  After your discharge from a Drug Addiction Treatment Centre, you commenced working at your father’s company and also took up work as a make-up artist and freelance model, but it seems that you relapsed into taking drugs after a disastrous episode with your ex-boyfriend, which led to your being a victim in a blackmail case.

8.  I have a Drug Addiction Treatment Centre report before me.  You are not suitable for DATC, as you are no longer considered to be a drug dependent.

9.  By committing this offence in December of 2011, you are, in fact, in breach of a suspended sentence for a similar offence, the suspended sentence having been imposed in May of 2009.

10.  I find that I have little option but to impose a prison sentence; the amount of drugs in your possession that morning was not inconsiderable, 10.38 grammes of narcotic.

11.  Taking everything into account that has been put before me on your behalf, I adopt a starting point of 9 months’ imprisonment.  With the amount of drugs in your possession, there is a latent risk, albeit small, that some of these drugs could fall into the wrong hands.  I, therefore, enhance the starting point by 3 months, arriving at a 12-month starting point. I will discount that sentence by one-third to take account of your plea of guilty, coming to 8 months’ imprisonment.

12.  By committing this offence, as I have said, you are in breach of the suspended sentence imposed on you in May of 2009.

13.  I, therefore, activate that suspended sentence of 2 months’ imprisonment and order it to run consecutively to the sentence of 8 months, arriving at a total sentence of 10 months’ imprisonment.