COURT: Will the defendant please stand.
You have pleaded guilty and stand convicted of one count of trafficking in dangerous drugs, contrary to Section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134. The drug in question was 107 grammes of cocaine.
The circumstances of your offending were that on 13 August of 2014, you were seen by the police outside Foon Shing Building on Nathan Road and when you were stopped by them, you ran away.
When they caught you and searched you, you had the drugs concealed within 14 pellets inside a condom wrapped in tissue paper and hidden in your underpants. You also had on you not one, but three mobile phones, four batteries and four SIM cards. You also had HK$1,625 on you even though you are a Form 8 holder and not entitled to work in Hong Kong.
In interview, you initially suggested that you didn’t know that you were carrying dangerous drugs, but later in the interview, you admitted that you realised it must have been dangerous drugs, because you had been asked by someone called Hassan to conceal them in your underpants. You had come to know Hassan whilst in prison when he was previously imprisoned for another offence and that the same person, Hassan, appears to be in Lai Chi Kok now.
You mentioned that you were to be paid for this supply of drugs, but you never said how much you were to be paid, so it wasn’t simply an act of friendship for Hassan. And you gave no explanation in interview for the three mobile phones, four batteries and four SIM cards that you were carrying. You were clearly doing more than simply conveying goods from point A to point B.
The retail value of what you intended to supply to others is said to be $255,723.
On your behalf, counsel has urged upon me to consider all the circumstances surrounding your arrest, interview and subsequent behaviour. He says on your behalf that you have been co-operative from the beginning and that you are remorseful. He also suggests that you find yourself in this position because you were set up by others and that, but for that entrapment, you would not have committed this offence.
Considering your previous conviction for doing an act preparatory to trafficking in dangerous drugs, for which you received a term of imprisonment from the District Court and considering the fact that you had upon you the mobile phones, SIM cards and batteries referred to earlier, I do not believe that to be the case.
Lastly he asked me to take into account the injuries you received upon arrest. If I am to do that, I must also take into consideration the fact that you resisted arrest and that you had to be subdued by the police. It would seem that you brought those injuries upon yourself. If that is not the case, then any future CAPO claim that you make will deal with the matter. In any event, to do my best to be fair to you, I will not consider your behaviour on arrest, and I will sentence on the basis of the facts as agreed between prosecution and defence counsel.
For the trafficking of 107 grammes of cocaine, in accordance with the guidelines set out in HKSAR v Lau Tak Ming [1990] HKLRD 370, the guideline starting point after trial of between 50 and 200 grammes of cocaine is 8 to 12 years.
The appropriate starting point is therefore 9 years and 6 months’ imprisonment.
I have taken into account all that counsel has urged upon your behalf, but those factors cannot reduce the sentence I have already indicated, as this is a serious crime for which a deterrent sentence is required, and only the most exceptional proven personal circumstances will reduce the sentence below the guideline I have mentioned.
Giving you the full one-third discount for plea, you will go to prison for a period of 6 years and 4 months.