HKSAR v. KO WAI CHUNG

HCCC 47/2013

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 47 OF 2013

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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case

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COURT:

The Facts

The defendant pleaded guilty before me to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Chapter 134.

Briefly, the defendant was stopped by Customs Officers when he was going through the ‘green channel’ of the Customs Arrival Hall of Lok Ma Chau Control Point. Upon search, the drug particularised in the count, that is, 70.07 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 69.02 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, was found concealed under his two armpits.

When asked about the drug, the defendant stated, “Ah Sir, give me a chance”. When being further questioned subsequently, the defendant said, under caution, that he had been asked by a woman in the mainland to help delivering the drug to Hong Kong. In return, the defendant said he would be given a reward of HK$500.

The estimated street value of the drug was about HK$50,000.

Mitigation

The defendant is aged 35 and is divorced. He was educated up to lower secondary level. At the time of his arrest, the defendant had been unemployed for one year and he was then a recipient of public assistance. Prior to that, he had been a decoration worker, earning about HK$12,000 per month.

The defendant has been before the court on 11 previous occasions with a total of 12 convictions. One of those was trafficking in a dangerous drug; four were possession of a dangerous drug; one was possession of pipe or equipment fit for smoking a dangerous drug; one was possession of a Part I poison; three convictions of theft, one of robbery and one of common assault.

In mitigation, it was said that the defendant only committed this offence for financial reasons. A letter written by the defendant was submitted to the court in which the defendant expressed his remorse and his determination to turn over a new leaf, emphasising he now realises that his elder sister cares about him and will stand by him.

The Sentence

The tariffs for trafficking in "Ice" were laid down in Attorney General v Ching Kwok Hung [1991] 2 HKLR 125 and corrected in HKSAR v Capitania, CACC 28/2004, 11 August 2004, unreported. For trafficking between 10 and 70 grammes of "Ice", a term of 7 to 10 years’ imprisonment is called for.

Having considered the amount of "Ice" involved and the facts of this case, I am going to adopt a starting point of 10 years. Moreover, for the fact that the defendant had brought the drug in from the mainland, I am going to further increase the starting point to one of 10 years and 3 months.

The defendant pleaded guilty and he would receive a one-third reduction for that. In this case, other than his plea, there is nothing which would call for any further reduction of sentence.

The defendant is therefore to serve a term of 82 months’ imprisonment for this offence.