HKSAR v. HO WAI YEUNG

HCCC 412/2013

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 412 OF 2013

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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case

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COURT: The defendant has pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking in a dangerous drug. Count 1 involves 49.33 grammes of ketamine by pure narcotic content, Count 2, 200 grammes.

The facts were that acting on information, the police stop searched the defendant and found the drug in Count 1, then in nine packets. A search of his home then led to the discovery of the drug in Count 2, plus some packing paraphernalia. Under caution the defendant stated that he had acquired all the drugs in one lot from a man called “K”.

The defendant is aged 31. He was born in Hong Kong and was educated up to form 5 level. He was a blue colour worker, but was unemployed at the time of the offence. He lived alone. He has three previous convictions, two of which were for possession of a dangerous drug.

In mitigation, counsel pleads that the defendant was pressed - if that is the right word - into drug trafficking, because of his drug habit. He asks the court to take an overall view to all the drugs in question.

The overall starting point for all the drugs in the case should be one of 8 and a half years. The guilty pleas will reduce it by one-third, to a final sentence of 5 years and 8 months in total. To achieve this result, I will sentence the defendant to 4 years imprisonment for Count 1, 5 years and 2 months for Count 1. 1 year and 8 months in Count 2 will run consecutively to the sentence in Count 1, thus giving a total of 5 years and 8 months. There being no other mitigating factor, those are the sentences that I pass on the defendant.