The defendant, Lee Ming-sum, pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, and admitted the Summary of Facts pertaining to the charge. I convicted the defendant on her own plea and admission. The offence concerned 1,333.96 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, commonly known as ‘Ice’. The defendant committed the offence on 4 October 2021 in the hotel room in Tsim Sha Tsui.
The Facts
On the morning on 4 October 2021, a team of police officers on the strength of a search warrant, raided the hotel room in question. The defendant was in the room when the police entered. Upon search, the police found the following items:
(1) The police opened a safe with the password provided by the defendant and found 241 plastic bags of dangerous drugs, ie, the drugs; and
(2) on a desk in the room, the police found drug trafficking paraphernalia, including one sealing machine for electronic scales, multiple transparent resealable plastic bags, three plastic spoons and one plastic plate.
The defendant was arrested. Under caution, the defendant stated that she helped carry ‘Ice’ for others because she owed other people money. At the time of her arrest, the defendant had two mobile phones with her.
In the subsequent cautioned video-recorded interview, the defendant stated inter alia that:
(1) She was introduced to the job by a male whom she came to know in a bar. She agreed to take up the job because she was in need of money. She gave her phone number to the male for contact.
(2) In early August 2021, she received a phone call from the said male who asked her to book a hotel room for the job. The defendant did so on 12 August 2021 and had begun to reside at the hotel room in question since then.
(3) After she had moved into the room, she received further instructions from the said male over the phone. She was asked to collect dangerous drugs and drug trafficking paraphernalia from different persons outside the hotel and to pack the dangerous drugs at the hotel room into smaller packets for delivery to others. She was also instructed to store the dangerous drugs inside the safe of the hotel room with a password set by her.
(4) She was offered a remuneration of HK$1,000 per day for the job. She had already been paid around 4,000 to 5,000 dollars prior to the arrest.
The drugs were examined by a Government Chemist and they were confirmed to be 1,344.76 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 1,333.96 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, a salt of methamphetamine.
The estimated street value of the drugs as of October 2021 was $1,001,846.
The defendant admits she possessed the drugs for the purpose of unlawful trafficking.
Background
The defendant is now aged 29, locally born. She received education up to Form 3. She last worked as a warehouse assistant for a courier company and was paid a monthly salary of $20,000. She is single.
The defendant was convicted of robbery in 2013 and was sentenced to be detained at a rehabilitation centre.
Mitigation
I have the benefit of a detailed written mitigation prepared by Ms Cheng for the defendant. I have also before me six mitigation letters, one written by the defendant, four by her siblings and one by her friend. In the mitigation letter written by the defendant, one can see that she has made some positive changes during her remand in custody. The defendant’s siblings and her friend asked for a lenient sentence to be passed in their mitigation letters.
Consideration
My attention is drawn to the following sentencing authorities.
(1) HKSAR v Tam Yi Chun [2014] 3 HKLRD 691. It was held in Tam Yi Chun that for trafficking in 600 grammes and over in ‘Ice’, the same tariff as prescribed in the case Abdallah for those quantities of heroin applied.
(2) HKSAR v Abdallah [2009] 2 HKLRD 437, it was held in Abdallah that for trafficking in heroin, for amounts between 1,200 and 4,000 grammes, the guideline starting point is between 23 and 26 years’ imprisonment.
(3) HKSAR v Herry Jane Yusuph [2021] 1 HKLRD 290. The Court of Appeal set out the proper approach to sentencing for offences of trafficking in a dangerous drug in paragraph 57 to 79 of the judgment.
Mitigation
Ms Cheng told me in mitigation that the defendant committed the offence because she was under financial pressure. She was in need of money to repay the gambling debt for her mother. The defendant admitted the offence immediately upon arrest and she pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. Ms Cheng submitted that applying the tariff in Tam Yi Chun and Abdallah, a starting point after trial of 23 years is appropriate. The defendant should be given the customary one-third reduction for her early plea.
I follow the six-step approach of Herry Jane Yusuph. Applying the guidelines provided by Tam Yi Chun and Abdallah, the 1,333.96 grammes of ‘Ice’ in the present case falls within the band of 1,200 and 4,000 grammes for which the guideline starting point is between 23 and 26 years’ imprisonment.
The defendant was responsible for the storage, packaging and delivery of the ‘Ice’ stored in the safe of the hotel room rented by her on instructions of another person.
Given the role and culpability of the defendant, a notional starting point after trial of 23½ years’ imprisonment is appropriate, and I take 23½ years’ imprisonment as the starting point. There is no aggravating factors bearing upon the above notional sentencing after trial.
The defendant should be given the customary one-third reduction for her timely plea which would bring her sentence down to 15 years and 8 months. Apart from her timely guilty plea, there is no other mitigating factors which can further reduce the sentence.
For the reasons given, I sentenced the defendant to 15 years and 8 months’ imprisonment.