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HCCC378/2009
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 378 OF 2009
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| Date: |
7 January 2010 at 9.42 am |
| Present: |
Ms Laura Ng, SPP of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR
Miss Anita Ma, instructed by the Director of Legal Aid, for the Accused |
| Offence: |
Trafficking in a dangerous drug (販運危險藥物) |
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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case
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COURT: Stand up, please. I know that you understand how the guidelines work, and you know that you will have a one-third discount for your plea of guilty. So it will be little surprise to you to hear me say that your starting point for the trafficking in 855 grammes of Ketamine is in the bracket that commences at 12 and ends at 14 years’ imprisonment.
You were stopped at the Lok Ma Chau checkpoint, with the drugs concealed on your body. Your case thus has the aggravation of taking the dangerous drugs across a border. It is also right to point out this is not the first time you have stood in the dock in the High Court for trafficking in dangerous drugs. You were sentenced to 6 years’ imprisonment for trafficking in 1997.
I shall give as much weight as I can to the attractive mitigation advanced by Miss Ma. I appreciate that you are at the bottom end of the chain. You are nothing like a mastermind or an organiser. Indeed, you spent your life - most of it - addicted to drugs. I will accept what I am told about you seeking to change the direction of your life in 2004, ceasing to take heroin, being married, having a child, and the like. I appreciate that this offence arose in circumstances where that redirection faltered because of the divorce.
Bearing in mind the aggravations to which I have referred, I shall take a starting point of 13½ years. It could have been more, but those matters of mitigation to which I have referred keep it to the figure of 13½.
Accordingly, with the one-third discount, the sentence I pass upon you is one of 9 years’ imprisonment.
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