HKSAR v. CHAN CHI FUNG

DCCC1158/2010

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 1158 OF 2010

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  Chan Chi-fung, you have been convicted on your own plea of trafficking in 22.8 grammes of a solid containing 16.71 grammes of cocaine.

2.  The charge arises out of events on the evening of 22 August this year.  A police officer who was on patrol saw you in the back of a taxi acting as though you did not want him to catch sight of you.  He stopped the taxi and found that you were in possession of the drugs that are referred to in the charge.  Inside the same bag as the drugs were some electronic scales and two mobile telephones.  You were also found in possession of $2,728 in cash. 

3.  The street value of the drugs was approximately $28,000.

4.  Although you were only 17 at the time you committed this offence, you would have been fully aware that very serious consequences would follow if you were caught trafficking in these drugs.  I assume that it is for that reason that you were trying to avoid the attention of the police officer. 

5.  As I am sure Mr Heung will have told you, the normal starting point for those who traffic in between 10 and 50 grammes of cocaine is between 5 and 8 years’ imprisonment. 

6.  Although the courts are always reluctant to send people of your age to prison, drug trafficking is such a serious offence and causes such danger to the lives and health of others that normally the youth of an offender is not a matter to which the courts attach much weight. 

7.  Normally, the main consideration for the courts is to deter the offender from re-offending and to deter others from engaging in the same evil business.  There are, however, very rare cases where the courts have considered that the best interest of the community can be served by placing greater emphasis on rehabilitation rather than deterrence (see for example Attorney General v Suen Yuen Ming, Application for Review 25 of 1998, and R v Kong Kin Man, Application for Review 13 of 1996.)  With some hesitation, I am satisfied that yours is such a case.

8.  You were just 17 at the time you committed this offence and you have never been convicted of a criminal offence before. However, the lifestyle that you had started to lead indicates that you were in danger of heading for a lifetime of crime.  It appears from the reports that I have received that you were mixing with the wrong kind of people.  You were starting to consume drugs and you had not applied yourself seriously to finding a job or obtaining a training.  Worse still, of course, you became involved in drug trafficking. 

9.  The report from the training centre says this:

“In order to help him develop more insight into his problems and strengthen his law-abiding mindset, a period of comprehensive disciplinary training coupled with statutory supervision would definitely be beneficial to him.”

10.  As you know, training centre is not a soft option.  You can be detained for up to 3 years.  Your release date will, to a certain extent, depend on your response to the programme, and on your release you will be subject to statutory supervision.  But it is an option that gives you a real chance to put the past behind you and make a fresh start, and for that reason that I am going to make an order for training centre. 

11.  As I have said it does provide you with a chance to make a fresh start.  Do not throw away this chance.  You have caring parents and sisters to support you.  The alternative is to throw your life away by spending it in and out of prison.  When there is so much to look forward to in life, that would be a very, very foolish choice to make.  Do not come back before any court again.  I make an order for your detention in a training centre.