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HCCC 218/2015
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO 218 OF 2015
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| Date: |
24 June 2016 at 9.30 am |
| Present: |
Mr Laurence Poots, on fiat, for HKSAR
Mr Tse Chee-ho, Bruce, instructed by Cheung & Liu, assigned by DLA, for the accused
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| Offence: |
(1) Trafficking in a dangerous drug (販運危險藥物)
(2) Possession of a dangerous drug (管有危險藥物)
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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case
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COURT:
The defendant was convicted upon his guilty plea of one count of possession of dangerous drug.
In sentencing, I have considered the whole circumstances of the case, including its nature and facts, in particular, the type and quantity of the dangerous drug involved, the background of the defendant, mitigation put forward on his behalf and a DATC report.
The facts of the case are simple. On 2 November 2014, the defendant was intercepted by Customs officers at Lo Wu Control Point when he returned to Hong Kong. Upon search, a small quantity of heroin was found wrapped inside a folded Jockey Club ticket put in the defendant’s wallet. The defendant admitted that it is heroin for his own use. He bought it in Hong Kong and brought it into Shenzhen. What he now possessed was the leftover. The dangerous drug was 0.02 grammes of a mixture containing heroin hydrochloride.
I was told that the defendant is 60 years of age. He is divorced and has two adult sons. He had worked as an interior decoration worker on a casual basis. He has, on 21 previous occasions, been convicted of offences of various nature. The first conviction dated back to 1981 for an offence of robbery; he was sentenced to 3½ years’ imprisonment. In 1986, he was convicted of three counts of robbery and was sentenced to a total of 12 years’ imprisonment.
The other offences he has been convicted of include burglary, theft and trafficking in dangerous drugs. Since 1995, he has been convicted for possession of dangerous drug on several occasions and had been sentenced to DATC three times. A DATC report confirms that as a result of the remand, the defendant is no longer drug-dependant.
In all the circumstances, DATC is not a suitable sentence option and an imprisonment term is to be considered. I have had regard to HKSAR v Chan Tai Wah, CACC 476/2011, in which the Court of Appeal set out the consideration procedure in this type of case. The narcotic content of heroin was minimal. Just taking the quantity into account, having regard to Hong Kong SAR v Lee Kwok Keung, HCMA 22/1998, a starting point of 9 months is appropriate.
However, the defendant has brought the dangerous drug into the mainland and then back to Hong Kong. He has previous convictions for the offence of possession of dangerous drug. An enhanced starting point is, for these reasons, justified. In all the circumstances, I adopt an ultimate starting point of 18 months.
The defendant pleaded guilty to this offence. He is entitled to a one-third discount. Having regard to the mitigation put forward on his behalf, in my judgment, this is the extent of discount the defendant is entitled to for this offence.
Defendant, please stand up. For the reasons I have mentioned, I sentence you to an imprisonment term of 12 months.
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