HKSAR v. WONG WING SUM, ZIVAN

DCCC863/2011

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 863 OF 2011

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

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

REASONS FOR SENTENCE

1.  Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to a single charge of trafficking in dangerous drugs, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap. 134, Laws of Hong Kong, the particulars being that you, on 17May of this year, outside No.32, Man Wui street, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon you trafficked in 102.41 grammes of a powder containing 69.88 grammes of ketamine.

2.  The summary of facts which you have admitted are straightforward and establish that, at about 0238hrs on the date and at the place named in the charge, you were stopped and searched by police when the drugs were found in six plastic bags inside a candy bottle found in the left-front pocket of your trousers.  

3.  You admitted to the police that what were inside the candy bottle were dangerous drugs. You later said under caution that your grandmother was sick and under Comprehensive Social Security Assistance and you had no money and hence you helped someone to deliver the drugs to Jordan for a reward of HK$2,000.

4.  I am aware that you have only one previous conviction for theft for which you were given a fine only and for the purpose of the present sentence, I shall treat you as a person of clear record.  This is a very large quantity of ketamine, nearly 70 grammes of narcotic, which has a street value of $11,572.  The court can never accept economic reasons as mitigation. I am sorry for your grandmother but I am sure she would be properly looked after by your uncle who is in court today and the public health care system in Hong Kong. No one here would be denied treatment only because he or she is poor.

5.  You are aged 20 and I have in mind s.109A of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance, Cap.221. The section directs that I shall not sentence a person under 21 to imprisonment unless I am of the opinion that no other method of dealing with such a person is appropriate. As said, this is a serious offence involving  a substantial amount of ketamine. I am of the view that youth is of little relevance in such a situation and for a serious offence such as the present, an immediate imprisonment is simply unavoidable. To do it otherwise would just encourage the people higher up the chain of criminality to recruit younger couriers.

6.  Very little has been put before me in mitigation, save for your plea of guilty, for which I will give you due credit. The case of SJ v. HiiSiewCheng CAAR/2006 has already laid down guidelines for trafficking in quantities of ketamine.  For quantities of between 50 to 300 grammes, a starting point of 6 to 9 years' imprisonment is indicated.

7.  In this case, the court is dealing with close to 70 grammes of ketamine.  As said, this is a serious offence involving a substantial amount of ketamine. Although an immediate imprisonment is inevitable, I cannot ignore the fact that you are only 20 years of age, of clear record and you were cooperative with the police after the arrest. I therefore propose to adopt the lowest range of the tariff sentence and adopt a starting point of 6 years imprisonment.  I will give you the customary one-third discount to reflect your plea of guilty and reduce the sentence to 4 years imprisonment.