COURT: The defendant had pleaded guilty in the Magistrates’ Court to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, namely, 23.4 grammes of a solid containing 18.2 grammes of cocaine.
Police were conducting an anti-narcotics operation on the evening in April 2022 and observed the defendant walking into the building and then upon his exiting from the building, he was then intercepted. And in a bag carried by the defendant was found a resealable plastic bag containing the drugs which is named in the charge. And subsequently the defendant was then arrested for trafficking in dangerous drugs.
The police went on to gain access to a room in the building and inside were found the other two defendants and in the premises were found other drugs and paraphernalia for trafficking in dangerous drugs.
Upon forensic analysis, the DNA of the 2nd defendant was found on the tissue which was wrapping the dangerous drugs seized from this defendant. The defendant when he was cautioned he admitted that he was hired by the 2nd defendant to traffic in the drugs. And subsequently under caution, he, in the presence of his father in a video-recorded interview, he admitted that it was this person called ‘Ah Fung’ who tempted him to make quick money by carrying drugs. And Ah Fung had promised him that he would be given $500 for doing this. And it was Ah Fung who then subsequently placed the bag of cocaine in his bag.
The defendant is now 19 years old and he was 17 at the time of the offence. He lived with his parents and siblings and his father worked on a construction site. According to Mr Leung in his mitigation, the defendant was educated up to Form 3 level and because of COVID, his father being the sole breadwinner, had a part-time making ends meet. And because of the financial situation of the family, the defendant could only do his best and he took up a part-time job as a waiter and thus he was at that time then tempted by this person, Ah Fung, to indulge in -- to help in this very evil crime of trafficking in dangerous drugs.
And for $500, the defendant has taken the risk of spending years in prison. So it is only hoped that the defendant will reflect upon this and realise that it wasn’t worth it.
Now, drug trafficking is a very evil offence because it not only affects the people arrested, it is also a blight on society because it can cause a lot of tragedies for families who had people who indulge in taking dangerous drugs. And the courts recognise this and also recognise that no matter how hard the police work, there will always be people willing to traffic in dangerous drugs because of the high profit involved in this nefarious activity, and they use a little money to tempt people like the defendant to participate.
In as early as 1990, the Court of Appeal has laid down sentencing guidelines for trafficking in these drugs in the case of Lau Tak Ming and the Court of Appeal recommended for trafficking in between 10 to 50 grammes, the sentence should be one of 5 to 8 years’ imprisonment. And so after trial, for this amount of drugs, the sentence would be in the range of 5½ years’ imprisonment.
Now, in this case, the defendant not only has shown his remorse by pleading guilty, he has also at the very early stage offered to assist the police as a sign of his remorse by giving an NPS statement, a non-prejudicial statement, and also participating in an identification parade, identifying the 2nd defendant. And as a result of this, the 2nd defendant pleaded guilty. So the defendant not only has helped by the court not having to waste time on a trial, he also have therefore helped the saving of public funds in holding a trial.
As Mr Leung had submitted, this is the sort of case where this court should consider a 40 to 50 per cent discount in sentence. I agree with him and I consider that what the defendant has done merits a discount of about 45 per cent. So the starting point sentence being one of 5½ years, less about 45 per cent, I rounded it up and the defendant will go to prison for 3 years.