HKSAR v. HUANG GUI YING

DCCC839/2009

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 839 OF 2009

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  The defendant pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking of dangerous drugs, namely,

87.5 grammes of powder containing 73.91 grammes of ketamine and

970 tablets containing 7.45 grammes of bromodimethoxyphenethylamine;

3 tablets containing 0.02 gramms of bromodimethoxyphenethylamine and

5 milligrammes of methamphetamine;

131 tablets containing 1.22 grammes of nimetazepam.

The facts of the case

2.  On 4 June 2009 at about 9.50 pm, the police saw the defendant leaving the room and walking downstairs of a building in Shanghai Street. PW1 intercepted the defendant and found the dangerous drugs in question upon search. An electronic scale was also found inside the defendant’s handbag. Under caution the defendant admitted that she delivered the dangerous drugs for an award of $5,000 as she needed money for the medical expenses of her mother.

Mitigation

3.  I am told that the defendant has a clear record and is now 35 years old. She is married. Her first husband was killed in a robbery case, leaving her and her 12-year-old daughter to look after. She is now re‑married to a Hong Kong citizen. He is 62, unemployed, relied on CSSA.

4.  She came to Hong Kong on a two-way permit and committed the present offence during her stay in Hong Kong as she needed money to finance her mother’s medical treatment as she suffered a stroke. She also needed money because her daughter is going to a secondary school in this coming new term. Although she has two brothers and a sister, she has to shoulder all the financial burdens of the family.

5.  In her own letter, she said that she is now remorseful and regretful for her own conduct.

Sentence

6.  In passing sentence, I have considered all the mitigating factors before me including the fact that the defendant pleaded guilty to the charge. She has a clear record. The quantity of dangerous drugs involved; this is a single offence of trafficking which involved several different types of dangerous drugs. The largest quantity was a lot of ketamine, it accounts for 73.91 grammes.

7.  The GCC said that bromodimethoxyphenethylamine was in fact MDMA (ecstasy) that means the total quantity for these two lots arrive at 81.38 grammes, (73.91 plus 7.45 plus 0.02 grammes). The other types of dangerous drugs are of smaller or insignificant quantity.

8.  I therefore approach the sentence on the basis of the 81.38 grammes of ketamine and ecstasy. In accordance to Hui Siew-cheng CACC126/2007, which has laid down the guideline for trafficking of ketamine and ecstasy, the quantity involved falls into the sentencing bracket of 5 to 8 years.

9.  Having considered the quantity involved, I consider that 6½ years is the appropriate starting point for 81.38 grammes of ketamine and ecstasy. I reduce the sentence to 4 years and 4 months to reflect the defendant’s guilty plea.