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HCCC282/2008
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 282 OF 2008
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Before: Deputy High Court Judge Longley
Date: 23 February 2009 at 10.55 am
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Present:
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Mr Anna Y K Lai, SPP of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR
Ms Munira Moosdeen, instructed by the Legal Aid Department, for the Accused
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Offence: Trafficking in a dangerous drug, etc. (販運危險藥物等罪)
Transcript of the audio recording
of the Sentence in the above case
COURT: Lau Kau-wood, stand up.
You have been committed to this court for sentence following your plea of guilty in the Magistrates’ Court to a charge of trafficking in 246.03 grammes of a powder containing 188.41 grammes of ketamine. The estimated street value of the drugs was over $29,000. The drugs were in a plastic bag which you had taken out from the passenger side of a tow truck which you had just driven up to Olympia City II in Mong Kok. At that stage you claimed that you did not know what the substance was and alleged that you were returning the bag to a friend who had left it in the truck. Today, by your plea, you have accepted that that initial excuse was not true. You would have known that drug trafficking is a very serious offence and that very serious consequences would follow if you were caught. You chose to take the risk.
In my view the appropriate starting point in this case is a sentence of 7½ years’ imprisonment.
You cannot claim in mitigation to be a person of previous good character. You have been before the courts on a number of previous occasions, including on six occasions for possession of dangerous drugs. Indeed, you are subject to two suspended sentences totalling 8 months in respect of two of those offences.
I have listened to all that Ms Moosdeen has very ably said on your behalf. I have also read your letter to me and the letter from your uncle. Your charitable contributions indicate that you are a person who has some concern for your fellow human beings. You are a man who is fortunate enough to have a supportive family and girlfriend. If you can rid yourself of your addiction to drugs you are somebody who is capable of leading a useful and decent life.
By reason of your plea of guilty and the other mitigating factors which have been drawn to my attention by Ms Moosdeen, I am prepared to pass a sentence of 50 months’ imprisonment upon you, that is 4 years 2 months. The suspended sentences are not activated. So that is the sentence I pass, 4 years 2 months’ imprisonment.
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