HKSAR v. CHU CHI KWONG

DCCC1008/2011

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 1008 OF 2011

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Reasons for Sentence

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

2.  The particulars of the offence established that on 11 July 2011 at the junction of Canton Road and Kansu Street, Yaumatei, Kowloon in Hong Kong, you unlawfully trafficked in a dangerous drug, namely 8.22 grammes of a mixture containing 5.73 grammes of heroin hydrochloride.  

3.  The facts of the case are straightforward and unremarkable.  It is a simple stop and search case. 

4.  On 11 July 2011, a team of police officers was conducting an anti-dangerous drugs operation in Yaumatei, Kowloon, when you were seen acting suspiciously walking along Canton Road.  Finally, you were intercepted by police and were searched at the junction of Canton Road and Kansu Street. 

5.  As a result, a plastic bag containing 40 packets containing suspected dangerous drugs was found in your right front pocket of your trousers.  You were therefore arrested and cautioned, and under caution you admitted that the exhibit contained heroin and you were helping someone to retrieve the exhibit. 

6.  In a following video-recorded interview, you further admitted that you met an unknown male on that day and you were instructed by him to pick up the exhibit beside a rubbish bin at the junction of Canton Road and Kansu Street.  You were told to bring back the exhibit to the unknown male.  For this you would earn a reward of HK$300. 

7.  The exhibit was later sent to the Government Chemist for analysis and they confirmed that it contained a total of 8.22 grammes of a mixture containing 5.73 grammes of heroin hydrochloride.  The street value of the dangerous drugs was estimated to be about $5,557.  

8.  You are now aged 60 years of age and you had a long history of criminal records.  There is a total of 60 conviction records, of which 23 are drugs-related.  In particular, there are three similar records of trafficking in dangerous drugs, the last being in August 2008 when you were sentenced to 16 months’ imprisonment in the Magistrates’ Court.  Your last conviction was in relation to “publishing and possession of obscene article” and that was in August 2010 when you were sentenced to a total of 12 months’ imprisonment.

9.  According to the antecedent statement, you were last discharged from the prison in April this year.  In other words, it was only 3 months before you committed the present offence.  The defendant only has Primary 6 level of education and you were unemployed at the time of the arrest.  According to your lawyer, you are living on the public assistance and the reason why you have to commit the present offence is because you needed money to satisfy your drugs addiction. 

10.  You were detained after you were arrested for this present offence and your lawyer told me that you are determined to cut the habit and to take up your old trade as a painting decorator, your last job in 2000.  Because of your plea of guilty I am asked to be as lenient as possible.

11.  Trafficking in dangerous drug is of course a very serious offence.  Anyone involved in this particular offence would be expected to be dealt with by the court severely.  As early as in 1993 I can see from your record that you have been already been sentenced by the District Court at that time to a period of 5 years’ imprisonment for an offence of “trafficking in dangerous drugs”.  You should know better than anyone else the severity of this offence.      

12.  The present offence is concerned with the dangerous drugs known as heroin and the sentence guideline for heroin has already been laid down in the landmark case of R v Lau Tak Ming.       

According to the tariff laid down in the case, up to 10 grammes of heroin, the sentence would be 2 to 5 years.

13.  The present quantity of the heroin contains 5.75 grammes. I consider that a suitable starting point would be 3 years.  But that is not the end of the matter.  I am also duty-bound to enhance the starting point to take into account of your appalling criminal records, especially those similar trafficking records.  Because of that I decided to increase the starting point by 9 months. The total starting point will therefore be one of 45 months.  You pleaded guilty which is the only effective mitigating factor in this case and for which you will enjoy a one-third discount. 

14.  In the end, please stand up, defendant, for this offence I will sentence you to 30 months’ imprisonment.