HKSAR v. TANG HO MAN, HENRY

DCCC268/2009

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 268 OF 2009

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  The defendant pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking in dangerous drugs, namely 19.26 grammes of a powder containing 15.36 grammes of ketamine.

The facts of the case :–

2.  On 15 January 2009 PW1 acted as a decoy and called the defendant for buying ketamine. The defendant agreed to sell to PW1 one packet of ketamine at $1,900 and asked PW1 to contact him again on the following day.

3.  On 16 January 2009 PW1 met the deft and gave him $1,900 marked money while the defendant gave him a resealable plastic bag to PW1. At this juncture, other team members stopped the defendant for a search and recovered the $1,900 from the defendant.

4.  The defendant was arrested and said under caution that he was unemployed; therefore, he sold the drugs to PW1 and made $200.

5.  The drug is the ketamine contained in the particulars of the charge.

6.  In respect of the criminal record, the defendant had two previous:-

a. Burglary in 2004 and he was put on probation for 18 months;

b. Possession of infringing copyright works in 2007, probation for 18 months.

7.  During the bail period of this present case, the defendant also committed another case of possession of dangerous drugs.

8.  In mitigation, I was persuaded to call a training centre report. The report is now before me, it tells me that the defendant is now 18 and he has been a drug addict since 2003. That means he has drug problem since the age of 13. He takes different types of drugs including ketamine, ecstasy, cannabis, ice and cocaine.

9.  He comes from a broken family. His parent divorced when he was only 10 years told. Without sufficient parental guidance and support, the defendant turned wayward especially when he mixed with his triad related friends.

10.  He stopped his schooling in Form 2. He was then idled for several years. In his spare time, he continued to mingle with undesirable friends. He made quick money to support his drug habit by selling pirated CDs and drugs. He admitted to the rehabilitation officer that he started selling ketamine in October 2008 and earned several ten thousand dollars per month.

11.  From the content of the report, it is obvious to me that the defendant’s mother had no control over him. He did what he likes to do. In his own letter to this court, he now wanted to mend his relationship with his parents. I am told that his parents are in court to support him.

12.  The report does not recommend that the defendant be admitted into the training centre because of his drug problems.

13.  Having considered the case of Ko Fei Tat [2002] 4 HKC 59, in fact it would be wrong in principle to send the defendant to training centre for such a serious offence.

14.  In passing sentence, I bear in mind that he pleaded guilty to the charge and the quantity involved was 15.36 grammes of ketamine, in accordance with Hiu Seiu Cheng CACC126/2007 that falls into the sentencing bracket of 4 to 6 years.

15.  In the present circumstances, I take a starting point of 4½ years, reduced to 3 years to reflect his guilty plea.