HKSAR v. HO LAI HA

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF APPEAL

1997, No.492
(Criminal)

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J U D G M E N T

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Stuart-Moore, J.A. (giving the judgment of the Court):

1. On 14th August 1997, this Applicant was found guilty, following a three-day contested trial, of trafficking in a mixture containing 26.95 grammes of heroin hydrochloride. She was sentenced by Judge Wright to six years' imprisonment.

2. The facts follow a familiar pattern. The Applicant had been followed for some time during the course of the evening of 21st December 1996, before eventually the taxi in which she was travelling was stopped by police. She was asked to get out. When she was searched she produced what she admitted was No.4 heroin. In a later statement, she admitted that she had been promised $1,500 to act as a courier for these drugs.

3. The Applicant herself was a drug addict. There were four convictions that had previously been recorded against her and she had been sent to a drug addiction treatment centre in the past for possession of dangerous drugs. The evidence was overwhelming and yet she chose to contest this case. In doing so she lost the substantial credit that she might otherwise have received for pleading guilty. The sentence is in accordance with the guidelines set down in Lau Tak-ming.

4. The Applicant has suggested to us that her sentence is too severe, firstly because the judge may have gained a poor impression of her and, secondly, because her husband is now serving an even longer sentence than she is and there is no one to look after their children. These are not proper considerations in a case as serious as this.

5. We find that there is no merit whatsoever in this application and it is accordingly dismissed. We shall order that the Applicant suffers two months' loss of time on the sentence already served, which means that she will now serve a slightly longer sentence than she otherwise would have done.