HKSAR v. KOO CHUN KUEN

DCCC 98/2014

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO 98 OF 2014

----------------------

---------------------

Reasons for Sentence

---------------------

1. The defendant has pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking in 0.13 kilograms of ketamine.

2. Shortly after 11 o’clock on 7 November 2013, he was seen by two police officers in the vicinity of Castle Peak Road, Hung Shui Kiu in Tuen Mun.  The officers noticed that he was behaving in a suspicious fashion, and they approached him and found him to be in possession of a plastic bag containing the drugs the subject of the charge.

3. The estimated value of the drugs is in excess of $27,000.

4. The defendant appeared before the court on 6 August 2013, and for possession of dangerous drugs he was sentenced to 4 months’ imprisonment, and I am told that he was released from prison just one month before he committed the present offence.

5. The defendant lives in the Tuen Mun area with his parents.  His father is a chemical engineer, his mother is a housewife, and he has a younger sister, who goes to university.

6. The defendant himself has a higher diploma in Engineering Management, and I am told that he graduated in that diploma last summer.  He has worked part-time as a security guard and for the Jockey Club.

7. I am told that when he was last released from prison he was unemployed, and he became greedy and that was the reason for the commission of the offence.  I am told that one of his so‑called friends encouraged him to traffic the drugs the subject of the charge for $500.

8. Letters have been placed before the court asking for leniency on behalf of the defendant.  One of those letters is from a friend of the family, and he says that the defendant is a very kind and thoughtful person and tutored his three children for no remuneration. 

9. Unlike many of the defendants who appear before the court on this type of charge, the defendant is not a drug addict.  Many drug addicts commit offences out of desperation, and that was not the position in this case.  You come from a relatively privileged background.  You are well educated.  You were sentenced to prison for a period of 4 months for possession of dangerous drugs, and then within a very short time, you commit this very serious offence. Having been sentenced previously for possession of dangerous drugs, and being an intelligent young man, you must have known the risk you were taking if you were caught.  I have the greatest sympathy for your parents and your family.  This must be a tragedy for them.

10. As you probably well know from your counsel, the starting point for offences of trafficking in this quantity of drugs is between 6 and 9 years.  There is really no mitigation in this case other than the guilty plea.  Given the quantity of the drugs, I propose to take a starting point at the lower end of the sentencing spectrum.  I take a starting point of 6½ years.

11. You are entitled to credit for your guilty plea.  That sentence will be reduced to one of 4 years and 4 months.