Mr Richard Donald, instructed by Francis Kong & Co
HCCC 42/2009
HCCC42/2009
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 42 OF 2009
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Before:
Deputy High Court Judge Line
Date:
16 March 2009 at 9.43 am
Present:
Mr P J Power, SPP of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR Mr Richard Donald, instructed by Francis Kong & Co., for the Accused
Offence:
Trafficking in a dangerous drug (販運危險藥物)
Transcript of the Audio Recording of the Sentence in the above case
COURT: Stand up, please. I have to sentence you for trafficking in dangerous drugs. The drug was cocaine.
You were caught in possession for the purposes of trafficking in it, with 68.05 grammes. You know perfectly well that we work off guidelines based on the weight and nature of the drug. You fall into the category of between 50 and 200 grammes, attracting a starting point after trial of 8 to 12 years’ imprisonment. Mathematically, you are not at the very bottom. You are near the bottom of the bracket. The unusual feature of your case is that you had only been released from prison by a period of 10 months, following a sentence in total of 7 years, for trafficking in dangerous drugs and for possession of dangerous drugs. You will appreciate that if a man keeps on offending in the same way the sentence is going to go up. I appreciate your cooperation and the plea of guilty, and you earn a third discount. Whilst it does not reduce the sentence by any specific amount, I bear in mind that you are at the bottom end of the chain, as it were, and I will accept that you did this for a $1,000. But you must expect a sentence to increase because of your repeated offending in the same manner. I shall take a starting point of 9 years and reduce that by a third. The sentence you must serve is therefore 6 years.
You were caught in possession for the purposes of trafficking in it, with 68.05 grammes. You know perfectly well that we work off guidelines based on the weight and nature of the drug. You fall into the category of between 50 and 200 grammes, attracting a starting point after trial of 8 to 12 years’ imprisonment. Mathematically, you are not at the very bottom. You are near the bottom of the bracket.
The unusual feature of your case is that you had only been released from prison by a period of 10 months, following a sentence in total of 7 years, for trafficking in dangerous drugs and for possession of dangerous drugs. You will appreciate that if a man keeps on offending in the same way the sentence is going to go up.
I appreciate your cooperation and the plea of guilty, and you earn a third discount. Whilst it does not reduce the sentence by any specific amount, I bear in mind that you are at the bottom end of the chain, as it were, and I will accept that you did this for a $1,000. But you must expect a sentence to increase because of your repeated offending in the same manner.
I shall take a starting point of 9 years and reduce that by a third. The sentence you must serve is therefore 6 years.