HKSAR v. IP KAI HO

DCCC 423/2015

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO 423 OF 2015

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  The defendant has pleaded guilty to Charge 2, trafficking in a dangerous drug.

2.  The facts of this case are straightforward.  

3.  There was an undercover police operation deployed to infiltrate triad societies in the Yuen Long area.  PW1 was deployed as an undercover officer for a period of 18 months.  During this operation, PW1 met the defendant. 

4.  On the offence date, 26 February 2014, the undercover officer had dinner with the defendant in Yuen Long.  After dinner they ended up in a flat in Yuen Long gambling.  They were not there for long before the defendant left the premises with the undercover officer.  After they left the flat, the defendant told the officer that he had lost all his money gambling, was short of money and could sell him some dangerous drugs cheaply. He sold two transparent resealable plastic bags that contained cocaine to the officer for $1,000.  He told the officer that if he thought the cocaine was good, he could come back for more.

5.  The Government Chemist determined the drugs to be 0.4 grammes of a solid containing 0.2 grammes of cocaine.

6.  The defendant was arrested when the operation turned overt.

7.  The street value of that amount of cocaine was determined to be $413.

8.  After arrest, the defendant admitted he sold cocaine to the undercover officer.

9.  At the time of this offence, defendant had a clear record, but, as a result of this operation, he was charged with two counts of claiming to be a member of a triad society.  Those two offences were dealt with in Tuen Mun Magistracy and in May 2015 he was sentenced to a total of 3 months’ imprisonment.

10.  The defendant’s best mitigation is his plea today.

11.  The defendant is 23 years old, single but engaged to be married to his long-term girlfriend.  His fiancée is in court today to support him and has written a letter on his behalf asking for leniency.

12.  The defendant himself has written a letter expressing his remorse.  It sets out his family background.

13.  I have been told the defendant was brought up from a young age by his uncle and aunt, and since leaving school he has worked as a chef for many years.  Now, the defendant is a car mechanic earning 12 to 13 thousand dollars a month.  I have been told that he wants to set up his own business.

14.  I have also been told the defendant is not a drug addict nor a hardened criminal.  He was a young man who had hung around with undesirable peers who were not a good influence. 

15.  I have been told since his arrest and Tuen Mun Magistracy sentence, he has stayed away from undesirable peers.  If this is not true, then defendant should be warned it is very likely it will not be long before he appears before the courts again.  That is the reality, so I hope what I have been told is the truth.

16.  I accept mitigation put forward on the defendant’s behalf by Mr Davies.  The quantity of cocaine is small and the facts are not the most serious set of facts for a case of this nature.

17.  However, trafficking in dangerous drugs in itself is a serious offence and will attract a term of imprisonment.

18.  As a reference sentencing, cocaine trafficking would follow the guidelines of R v Lau Tak Ming [1990] 2 HKLR 370.

19.  Defendant, please stand up.

20.  After considering defendant’s background, mitigation, facts of the case and the defendant’s plea today, I take a starting point of 2 years’ imprisonment.

21.  However, you have pleaded guilty.  You are entitled to a discount of 8 months.

22.  I also take into account that if this charge had been dealt with at the same time as the triad charges in Tuen Mun Magistracy, and it could have been, the court would have applied the totality sentence.

23.  Therefore, I deduct a further 3 months to reflect this.

24.  Therefore, for Charge 2, you are sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 1 year and 1 month.

COURT: You understand that sentence?

DEFENDANT: Understand.