HKSAR v. WONG WAI SHING

DCCC1183/2011 & 1363/2011
(Consolidated)

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NOS. 1183 & 1363 OF 2011 (CONS)

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to the 1st charge on the indictment, the charge of possession of a dangerous drug, contrary to section 8(1)(a) and (2) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, the particulars being that on 18 July of last year you had in your possession 1.17 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, otherwise known as “Ice”.

2.  You have additionally been convicted after trial of the 2nd charge on the indictment, one of trafficking in dangerous drugs, the particulars being that on 9 August of last year you trafficked in 7.7 grammes of “Ice” and 0.34 grammes of ketamine.

3.  Charge 3 is a charge of resisting a police officer in the execution of his duty, the particulars being that on 9 August of last year, outside No. 317 Nathan Road, you resisted Senior Police Constable 47421 in the execution of his duty.  To this offence you have pleaded guilty.

4.  The facts are extremely straightforward and speak for themselves.  On 8 July of last year, at around 2 o’clock in the morning, you were intercepted by officers in On Fu Road, Tai Po, and searched, and the drugs being the subject matter of Charge 1 were found in your right trousers pocket.  After police formalities at the police station were completed, you were bailed in respect of this offence. 

5.  Whilst on bail, on 9 August of last year you committed the 2nd offence of trafficking in dangerous drugs.  You were initially stopped on Nathan Road in the early hours of 9 August 2011.  You were searched and two packets of drugs were found from your rucksack.  The police declared arrest on you and it was at that stage that you pushed the officer away and fled, resulting in the 3rd charge of resisting arrest.

6.  You were eventually intercepted and arrested at the junction of Jordan Road and Woosung Street, taken back to the police station where one packet containing 14 smaller packets of drugs were found inside your underpants. 

7.  You are 31 years of age and have two similar previous convictions, one for possession of dangerous drugs in 2001 and one more recently, a conviction in 2009 for trafficking in dangerous drugs when you received 10 months’ imprisonment. 

8.  As your counsel has rightly pointed out, an aggravating feature of this case is the fact that the 2nd charge of trafficking was committed whilst you were on bail in respect of the 1st charge of possession of dangerous drugs.  This is a matter that I cannot ignore. 

9.  On Charge 1, I adopt a starting point of 9 months’ imprisonment.  I will however discount that sentence by one-third to reflect your plea of guilty, coming to 6 months’ imprisonment on Charge 1.

10.  With respect to Charge 2, the sentencing guidelines are clear and to be found in Attorney General v Ching Kwok Hung [1991] 2 HKLR 125, and for trafficking in up to 10 grammes of “Ice”, the sentence ranges from 3 to 7 years.  In the present case, this court is dealing with 7.7 grammes of “Ice”, which ignores the small amount of ketamine that you also had.   

11.  In the circumstances, I adopt starting point of 5 years’ imprisonment.  I will increase that starting point by 3 months to reflect the fact that this offence was committed whilst you were on bail, coming to 5 years and 3 months’ imprisonment on Charge 2, which I order to run consecutively to the sentence on Charge 1.   

12.  With regard to Charge 3, I adopt 3 months as my starting point, but will reduce this to 2 months to reflect your plea of guilty.  Due to the question of totality of sentence, I order this sentence to run concurrently to the sentence on Charge 2, arriving at a total sentence of 5 years and 9 months in all.