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DCCC808/2010
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 808 OF 2010
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HKSAR |
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v. |
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Chow Chi-hung |
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| Before: |
H H Judge Tallentire |
| Date: |
30 December 2010 at 10.23 am |
| Present: |
Mr Ronald Mayne, Counsel on fiat, for HKSAR
Mr Frederic Charles Whitehouse, instructed by Messrs Fung Wong Ng & Lam, assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the Defendant |
| Offence: |
Trafficking in dangerous drugs (販運危險藥物) |
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Reasons for Sentence
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1. Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to a single offence of trafficking in dangerous drugs, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap.134. You admitted the brief facts and I convicted you.
2. The facts were as follows. On 7 May of this year police officers monitored Flat B, 10th Floor, Shanghai Mansion, 380-390A Shanghai Street, Yaumatei.
3. At about 1745 hours they intercepted you as you were about to enter the flat. They revealed their identities and entered the flat under the authority of a search warrant. Other persons were found to be present in the flat.
4. They searched the flat and in your bedroom they found five plastic bags and two paper packets containing powder (Exhibit 1); one plastic bag containing a crystalline solid (Exhibit 2); one plastic bag containing plant material (Exhibit 3); a further plastic bag containing plant material (Exhibit 4); and two foil packs containing 14 tablets (Exhibit 5).
5. Also they found electronic scales and two piles of plastic bags.
6. You were arrested and cautioned. You admitted the drugs and the paraphernalia belonged to you and that they had nothing to do with the rest of the family. You claimed that they were for self-consumption. This was repeated in formal interview at a later stage.
7. Subsequent analysis revealed the following. Exhibit 1 contained 77.83 grammes of a powder containing 60.85 grammes of ketamine; Exhibit 2, 2.26 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 2.23 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, otherwise known as “Ice”; E3, 2.44 grammes of herbal cannabis; E4, 1.13 grammes of plant material containing 0.03 grammes of tetrahydrocannabinol; E5, 14 tablets containing 0.10 grammes of nimetazepman.
8. Additionally, you had on your person HK$17,435 and 497 renminbi.
9. The street value of all the drugs is estimated at approximately HK$9,400.
10. You admitted to 14 previous convictions on 13 occasions, none of which related to dangerous drugs. The majority related to gambling.
11. Mr Whitehouse entered mitigation on your behalf. He recognised, quite rightly, that in such a case there is little to say by way of mitigation. He told me that you are 56 years of age, married, with three grown up children. There was no explanation as to why you had committed the offence. He pointed out the unusual feature of this case in that a man of 56 for the first time commits an offence involving drugs, and a very serious offence involving drugs at that. He submitted, and I accept this, that there are no aggravating features.
12. In sentencing, he urged me to adopt a cumulative approach rather than an individualistic approach. He suggested that I should take the bottom of the tariff, the tariff being 6 to 9 years’ imprisonment relating to the ketamine; and further, given your plea of guilty and the fact that this is your first offence involving dangerous drugs, that I should give an extra discount.
13. I turn now to the sentence.
14. Whilst you have what appears to be a lengthy record, I do note that this is the first time you have been involved with dangerous drugs. The majority of the previous convictions relate to gambling. There are of course one or two exceptions.
15. I accept that a cumulative approach is the correct one in this case. The cannabis and the nimetazepam I overlook as being small quantities of relatively soft drugs. The main focus therefore rests on the ketamine, and to some extent upon the “Ice”.
16. Given all the circumstances of this case and taking them into account, I do intend to take the bottom of the tariff as the starting point. However, it would not be correct to give any further discount on the grounds suggested by Mr Whitehouse.
17. I therefore take as a starting point 6 years’ imprisonment, reduced to 4 years for your plea of guilty. You will go to prison for 4 years.
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Tallentire |
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District Judge |
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