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DCCC700/2009
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 700 OF 2009
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HKSAR |
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v. |
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Chu Chi Ying, Ricky |
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| Date: |
12 August 2009 at 10.12 am |
| Present: |
Ms Grace Leung, PP of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR
Mr Ng Ping-lin, of Messrs Thomas Li & Yu, assigned by the Director of Legal Aid Department, for the Defendant |
| Offence: |
Trafficking in a dangerous drug (販運危險藥物) |
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Reasons for Sentence
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1. The defendant has pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking in dangerous drugs. Both offences were committed on 22 April. The quantity of drugs in Charge 1 is 3.8 grammes of heroin hydrochloride and on the 2nd charge it is 13.71 grammes of heroin hydrochloride.
2. The facts admitted by the defendant disclose that at 11.30 am on 22 April two officers intercepted the defendant outside his home at 154-156 Cheung Sha Wan Road in Sham Shui Po. The defendant was searched and in the left front pocket of his jeans they came across the drugs the subject of the first charge.
3. The defendant said he lived at Room B, Block A on the 4th Floor of Diamond Building, which was the building outside which he was arrested and he was found in possession of a bunch of keys. The police searched his flat and in a mug on a table in the flat they found the drugs the subject of the 2nd charge.
4. The defendant admitted that both the drugs found in his pocket and at his home were heroin and that he was delivering them for somebody called “Fei Lui” and he would get $1,000 for the delivery.
5. The defendant has got six previous convictions. Three of them were drug-related but they were for simple possession rather than trafficking. His last conviction was in 2006 when he was sent to the Drug Addiction Treatment Centre.
6. The defendant is 39 years of age. He was unemployed at the time of his arrest. He has had education to lower secondary level. He is single and is a drug abuser. I was told by his counsel that he committed the offence because of financial pressure and that he is very remorseful for the offence.
7. As his counsel has told the court, in respect of the 1st charge the starting point for that particular quantity of drugs would be in the region of 3 years and for the 2nd offence between 5 to 6 years.
8. The defendant has pleaded guilty at the first opportunity. I give him credit for that. On the 1st charge, I sentence him to 24 months’ imprisonment and on the 2nd to 40 months’ imprisonment, both sentences to run concurrently. The defendant will therefore go to prison for a period of 40 months.
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