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HCCC413/2009
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 413 OF 2009
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Date:
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3 March 2010 at 4.46 pm
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Present:
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Ms Bianca Cheng, SPP, of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR
Mr Bruce Tse, instructed by K M Cheung & Co., assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the Accused
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Offence:
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Trafficking in dangerous drugs (販運危險藥物)
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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case
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COURT: The 33-year-old defendant pleaded guilty before me to trafficking in 210.11 grammes of ketamine. The facts of the offence are that, on 25 May 2009, the defendant was seen by a police patrol in Tsim Sha Tsui, alighting from a taxi and behaving suspiciously. He carried a yellow plastic bag. The defendant walked into the ground floor of a nearby building.
He was followed and intercepted by police as he entered a lift in the lobby. The defendant dropped the yellow bag and attempted to flee. He was caught and, after a struggle, was subdued. The yellow bag was recovered and, subsequently, found to contain the drugs the subject of the charge.
I take a starting point of sentence, given the quantity and nature of the drugs, of 8 years’ imprisonment. The defendant gets the full benefit of his plea. It is unfortunate that the defendant’s mother has a form of skin cancer but, in my view, that illness does not substantially mitigate the offence.
On the basis of his plea, therefore, his sentence is reduced to 5 years 4 months’ imprisonment.
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