HKSAR v. TAM KAM YIU

DCCC 353/2017

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO 353 OF 2017

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REASONS FOR SENTENCE

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1.  The defendant pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking dangerous drugs, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134.

Summary of Facts

2.  In the evening of 6 February 2017, the defendant was intercepted by the police for a search and found one transparent resealable plastic bag containing dangerous drugs held by the defendant in his right hand.  These are the drugs particularized in the charge, that is, 23.8 grammes of a solid containing 20.4 grammes of cocaine.

3.  Under caution, the defendant said he was helping somebody to deliver this cocaine for easy money. 

4.  In a further record of interview, the defendant said, Ah Keung offered him a job to deliver cocaine.  He would receive payment of $15,000 upon delivery, $13,000 was for Ah Keung, and he received award of $2,000.  The $1,290 with him at that time was his saving, and the estimated street value is 38,199.

Previous conviction

5.  The defendant had one previous in 2009 for trafficking dangerous drugs. He was sentenced to detention centre.

Mitigation

6.  The defendant is now 23, born in China, came to Hong Kong when he was 3 years old, parents divorced.  Between 2014 to end of 2015, he studied in Australia.  Had he not committed the present offence, he would have continued his study in Australia.  Today, he has his family and friends in court to support him.

7.  In his mitigating letter, he said that he came back from Australia to visit his father, but he engaged in his work and had very little time to spend with him.  He did not have any friend and he was lonely at the material time. Ah Keung then became his best friend.  He is now remorseful to offer a helping hand to Ah Keung.  He knew what he did was wrong.  He asks for leniency.

Sentence

8.  The defendant committed a very serious offence.  The dangerous drugs was cocaine, and the quantity was 20.4 grammes.  Applying the sentencing guideline of Attorney General v Pedro Nel Rojas [1994] 2 HKCLR 69 and R v Lau Tak Ming & Others [1990] 2 HKLR 370, the tariff is 5 to 8 years, between 10 to 50 grammes.

9.  When I pass sentence on the defendant, I bear in mind all the mitigating factors.  The defence told me that the defendant’s non-prejudicial statement has no use to the prosecution.  To this end, the only valuable mitigating factor is his guilty plea.  For a total quantity of 20.4 grammes of cocaine, the proper starting point is 5 years 7 and a half months.  Allowed one-third discount, it comes down to 45 months.