HKSAR v. LO OI FA

DCCC953/2011

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 953 OF 2011

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  The defendant pleads guilty to one charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug, namely 29.55 grammes of a mixture containing 23.14 grammes of heroin hydrochloride.

2.  In summary, at midnight on 9 July 2011, the police carried out an anti-narcotic operation at Mongkok and found the defendant and her male friend on board a taxi.  No suspicious items were found on her friend.  However, the defendant was found holding in her hand two cigarette boxes which contained a total of 110 packets of heroin.

3.  Under caution, the defendant admitted she was carrying the drugs to a park at Shanghai Street under the instruction of a male called Fei Ba for a reward of $300 to $500.  The estimated street value of the drugs was about $20,000.

4.  The defendant is aged 39, single, but she has a daughter aged 17.  She was previously a restaurant captain but had been unemployed for some time before she committed the present offence.  She has two previous convictions, both related to drugs but for possession only. 

5.  In mitigation, the defendant’s solicitor tells the court that the defendant relapsed to drugs in 2008 when she broke her relationship with her boyfriend and had depression since then.  As the defendant had been unemployed and could not find a job for some time, she committed the present offence because of her financial difficulty. 

6.  The defendant’s solicitor referred me to a case for sentencing by another District Judge in this court.  I must say that that case is not particularly of assistance to this court as the defendant in that case was sentenced on the very facts of that case and the very background of that defendant.  In passing the sentence, I have considered everything said by the defendant’s solicitor on her behalf.

7.  In Lau Tak Ming, the Court of Appeal laid down guidelines for tariff in trafficking in heroin.  When the narcotic content is between 10 and 50 grammes, sentence after trial is between 5 to 8 years. The quantity possessed by the defendant in this case was 23.14 grammes of heroin.  I have considered the Court of Appeal decision in HKSAR v Cheng Lai Yee, CACC153/2002.  In that case, the Court of Appeal said for two charges involving a total of 20.79 grammes of heroin, the total sentence should be 5½ years.  No doubt, the suggestion is not a straitjacket.

8.  The defendant in this case had been out of trouble for about 11 years when the present offence was committed.  Though she had been to DATC before, this is the first time she will go to prison.  Taking these matters into consideration in favour of the defendant, I am of the view that the appropriate starting point in the present case should be 5 years and 9 months. 

9.  I am afraid that the medical condition of the defendant, accepting that she suffers from depression, is not a factor that I can reduce the sentence in this kind of serious offence.  No doubt financial difficulty is not a matter that I can take into consideration in reducing the sentence.

10.  The defendant will get full credit for her plea of guilty.  The defendant is therefore sentenced to 46 months’ imprisonment.