HKSAR v. CHAU TSZ TIM

DCCC 410/2014

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO 410 OF 2014

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  The defendant pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking in 0.14 kilograms of ketamine.

2.  On 16 March 2014, at around 3.17 pm, police officer saw the defendant acting suspiciously on Shanghai Street in Mongkok. He was searched and from the space between the defendant’s pants and underpants, the officer recovered 15 transparent resealable plastic bags containing the drugs, the subject of the charge.  The defendant immediately admitted that he was trafficking in the drugs.  He said he was to deliver them and admitted that the drugs were K Jai.

3.  In a video-recorded interview, the defendant said he had been given the drugs by a person called Hung Gor.  He had collected the drugs from a shopping mall in Kwun Tong earlier that day.  He had then taken a taxi to Shanghai Street to effect the delivery of the drugs.  He said that he was promised $100 per packet.  The street value of the ketamine is just over $25,000.

4.  The defendant has a clear record.  He was born on the mainland and came to Hong Kong in 2009.  He is 17 years of age, he is single and he was educated to Form 3 standard.  He was unemployed at the time of his arrest.

5.  On the last occasion, I adjourned the case so that I could have the advantage of a training centre report.  I now have that report.  The report confirms that the defendant was born on the mainland and he was an only child.  The marriage of his natural parents was dissolved in 2005. His mother remarried and a successful application was made by the defendant’s stepfather to come to Hong Kong in 2009.  His mother divorced the stepfather in 2012. 

6.  The officer described the parenting style of the defendant’s mother as being lenient and permissive.  The defendant apparently received six years of primary education and half a year of secondary education on the mainland.  He continued his studies when he came to Hong Kong. Sadly, he gradually turned wayward and joined a triad society in mid‑2013.  He left school in July 2013 and subsequently commenced working with an unstable pattern.  As a way of making easy money, he began trafficking in drugs in early March 2014.  

7.  The officer from the Correctional Services institution says that the defendant is mentally and physically fit for detention in a training centre, and after a general assessment of his behaviour and attitude whilst on remand, the officer considered him suitable for detention in a training centre. 

8.  The quantity of drugs trafficked in this case would normally attract a sentence of between 6 and 9 years’ imprisonment as a starting point.  However, having considered the circumstances set out in the background in the training centre report, having considered the age of the defendant and the fact that he admitted the offence immediately upon his arrest and has pleaded guilty, I propose to follow the recommendation made by the Correctional Services.

9.  I order that the defendant be detained in a training centre.