HKSAR v. YU MING HANG

 DCCC639/2009

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 639 OF 2009

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Reasons for Sentence

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 1.  Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to an offence of trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to section 4 of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance.  You have admitted that on the 7th day of April 2009, in Citylink Plaza, Shatin, you unlawfully trafficked in 145.51 grammes of a powder containing 116.64 grammes of ketamine.

2.  At about 8.35 pm, an officer who was on anti-dangerous-drugs operation in that area saw you looking around and acting furtively with your hands inside your pocket of your jacket.  The officer intercepted you, revealed his identity and conducted a search upon you.  The drugs were then found inside your jacket pockets contained in 11 separate plastic bags.  On questioning, you admitted that the drugs were ketamine, and under caution, you told the officer that you were delivering the drugs because you owed somebody money.  Mr Lai, your counsel, has mitigated on your behalf this morning, and I have taken into account all that he has had to say for you. 

3.  You are aged 25 and have one previous conviction some 10 years ago, in 1999, to which you were placed on probation for possession of an obscene article.  That conviction is now regarded as spent.

4.  I am informed that you have committed this offence largely on the basis that you were trying to raise money for your father’s heart surgery.  Although he is awaiting surgery through the Hospital Authority, that will take some time.  But you took it upon yourself to raise more finances so that your father could have his operation in a private hospital which would be sooner.

5.  You and your sister are the main breadwinners of the family as both of your parents are unemployed.  In view of the fact that your dubious peers came to know of the need of you needing to raise money, they took advantage of you and that is how you became involved in this trafficking offence.

6.  You had a very good reference from your employer where you have been working for the past seven years, and your employer speaks very highly of you.  You have rightly informed your parents that you know you are facing a lengthy sentence.  Trafficking is indeed a very serious offence, and as your counsel, Mr Lai, correctly referred me to the case of Hii Siew Cheng, the amount of drugs that you trafficked in falls in the band of between 50 to 300 grammes of ketamine.  That is between 6 to 9 years’ imprisonment.

7.  The drugs that you had in your possession fall in the lower band of this tariff.  You immediately admitted your guilt to the police officer upon arrest.  You have entered an early plea of guilty, and you have shown the court your remorse.

8.  For this offence, I take a starting point of 6 years' imprisonment and shall reduce that term by one-third to give you full credit for your plea of guilty and your remorse and reduce that to 4 years’ imprisonment, to which you are so sentenced.