CRIMINAL CASE NO. 315 OF 2011
COURT: Wong Kam-ho, you have been convicted on your own plea on one count of possession of 1.50 grammes of a solid containing 1.35 grammes of cocaine and one count of trafficking in 153.78 grammes of a solid containing 131.72 grammes of cocaine.
You were stopped by the police as you returned to your home in Ferry Street, Yau Ma Tei, with your girlfriend in the early hours of the morning of 27 March this year. The police searched you and found a bag containing the drugs referred to in the 1st count in your trouser pocket and you admitted that those were for your own consumption.
The police then searched your room and found the drugs that are the subject of the trafficking count. The cocaine was in 167 packets. The police also found drug packaging paraphernalia, including two scales and five bundles of resealable plastic bags. You admitted that you were looking after the drug for a boss and that you would later deliver them for him. You claimed that you had collected the drugs from a nearby garden.
The street value of the drugs was approximately $156,000. Although you have not been involved in a trafficking offence before, you have been involved with dangerous drugs and you would have known how seriously the offence of trafficking is regarded by the courts. You would have been fully aware that very serious consequences would follow if you were caught.
I am satisfied that the appropriate starting point in respect of the trafficking charge is 10 years’ imprisonment and in respect of the possession charge, 1 year’s imprisonment.
Insofar as the drugs in the possession count are concerned, I find no reason to enhance that starting point of 1 year to reflect any risk that you might have been tempted to traffic in them, bearing in mind the quantity involved and the fact that you are a drug addict.
I have listened to all that Mr Newman Wong has said on your behalf and I have read your letter to the court. It is tragic that you should have become involved in this offence when you have a young son to support. He will be deprived of your care for a number of years as a result of this offence.
The only real mitigation in this case is your plea of guilty and for that you are entitled to the usual discount of one-third.
On the most serious count, that of trafficking, Count 2, I sentence you to 6 years 8 months’ imprisonment. On Count 1, the possession count, I sentence you to 8 months’ imprisonment, both sentences to run concurrently. That means there is a total sentence of 6 years 8 months.