HKSAR v. KWAN WAI KIT

DCCC913/2010

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 913 OF 2010

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap.134.

2.  You have admitted that on 2 July 2010, outside Kar Wah Building, Nos. 11-17 Castle Peak Road, San Hui, Tuen Mun, New Territories, in Hong Kong, you unlawfully trafficked in 42.4 grammes of a solid containing 36.79 grammes of cocaine.

3.  On 2 July 2010 at about 6.11 pm, police officers conducted an anti-dangerous drugs operation outside Kar Wah Building.  You were seen to leave the building suspiciously holding a yellow bag in your right hand and a mobile phone in your left hand.

4.  You were intercepted for inquiry and search and a police officer found upon you 33 transparent plastic bags of cocaine inside the yellow bag. 

5.  According to the GCC, the 30 plastic bags containing drugs contained a total of 7.38 grammes of a solid containing 6.14 grammes of cocaine and three plastic bags contained a total of 35.02 grammes of a solid containing 30.65 grammes of cocaine.

6.  Under caution you stated that the drugs were cocaine and were for your own self-consumption.

7.  Two keys were found inside your trousers pocket, and on the same day, at about 6.25, the police and you went and conducted a house search with your consent at your residence in Kar Wah Building on the 14th floor at Flat E.  A notebook with suspicious records, a tenancy agreement and a bankbook of yours was found inside the bedroom.

8.  In a video-recorded interview conducted with you by the police officers in the early hours of 3 July you stated under caution that you knew the drugs were cocaine; you lived at Flat E, 14th floor of the building; you just went to the Hong Kong Jockey Club Off-Course betting centre at Tuen Mun Town Plaza in order to place a bet. 

9.  There you came across an old friend, Ah Keung. You purchased 2 ounces of cocaine, that is the drugs in question, from Ah Keung at the price of HK$40,000.  After the purchase, you returned home to your residence, found your girlfriend was sleeping, you therefore left the building with the drugs and were intercepted by the police.  You admitted that the notebook and suspicious records belonged to you but you remained silent about the questions put to you in relation to the suspicious records and your bankbook record.

10.  The retail price of the drugs in question as provided by the expert was $45,240.

11.  Mr Duncan Fung mitigated on your behalf and I have taken into account all that he has had to say. 

12.  You are 29 years of age and have five previous convictions, of which none are similar to trafficking and none related to drugs.

13.  You are single but co-habit with your girlfriend at Kar Wah Building.  Your previous occupation was a transportation worker and a waiter, earning $13,000 a month.  You received education up to Secondary 3 in Hong Kong, and you are a drug addict. 

14.  Initially, Mr Fung mitigated on your behalf that the bulk if not all of these drugs were for your own consumption and a small part of it was for sharing with your friends.  However, that was abandoned in its entirety by Mr Fung and you have admitted that all of these drugs were for trafficking.

15.  The greatest mitigating factor and only mitigating factor put forward on your behalf today by Mr Fung is of course your plea of guilty.  You have saved the court’s time and have shown remorse through your plea of guilty.

16.  The Court of Appeal has laid down guidelines for trafficking in cocaine, as set out in R v Lau Tak Ming. 

17.  The quantity of drugs that you had for trafficking falls within the second bracket of between 10 and 50 grammes which warrants a sentence of 5 to 8 years’ imprisonment.

18.  Given the quantity of drugs that you had for trafficking, I take a starting point of 6½ years’ imprisonment.  However, I give you full credit for your plea of guilty and reduce that term to one of 4 years 4 months’ imprisonment, which will mean one-third off from 6½ years, to which you are so sentenced.