HKSAR v. YEUNG KAM KWAN

DCCC1155/2009

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 1155 OF 2009

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.   Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to an offence of trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap. 134.  You have admitted that on 15 August 2009, outside King Wing House, Shan King Estate, Tuen Mun, you unlawfully trafficked in a dangerous drug, namely, 10.89 grammes of a powder containing 7.06 grammes of ketamine.

2.   On 15 August, at about 12 minutes past midnight, you were intercepted by a police officer at the location.  A body search was conducted on you, and inside the right front pocket of your trousers, a cigarette box was found and the drugs were contained therein.  The officer arrested you for trafficking of the drugs and under caution, you said, “The K Chai was for my own consumption.  The leftover would be shared with my friends.”  You were brought back to your residence in Tin King Estate in Tuen Mun, and there the officer found 140 empty transparent plastic bags.

3.   Later that morning, a cautioned interview was taken from you conducted in the presence of your father.  You admitted that the drugs in the packet were ketamine, that you are a drug addict and that you obtained the drugs from another male in Tin Shui Wai on the morning of 14 August.  You did not pay that male but you would pay him later.  You bought the ketamine for your own consumption but that you would sell the leftover to your friends for $100 per gramme.  The transparent plastic bags found at your home was used for packing the ketamine.  You would put 1 gramme in each packet and sell them to your friends for $100.

4.   You are 17 years of age and have previous convictions related to drugs.  You have been sentenced to probation and the drug addiction treatment centre for your previous offences of possession of a dangerous drug and also to rehabilitation centre for the breach of your probation order.  Prior to sentencing you for this offence of trafficking, I called for a training centre report.  I did inform you at the time of calling for the report that this was no indication of the sentence that I may pass; all sentencing options will be open to me.

5.   I specifically informed you that I am well aware of the Court of Appeal’s guidelines for offences of this kind of trafficking.  In such serious offences, youth or old age is not an acceptable circumstance whereby one does not impose a deterrent sentence.

The training centre report

6.   The medical officer is of the opinion that as you are drug dependent, you are not suitable for detention in a training centre.  It appears, from the contents of this report, that despite all the various assistance you have been given through probation, rehabilitation centre, drug addiction treatment centre, after each release from one of those centres, you relapsed into drugs.

7.   Despite your young age, this is already your fourth brush with the law.  This of course is a very serious offence of trafficking.  I note that you have a very polite attitude now since you have been remanded and that you attribute your drug problem to your bad peer influence and weak determination in staying away from the drugs. Unfortunately, the rehabilitation officer says that, in discussing your future, you do not have any concrete rehabilitation plan and lack adequate insight into your past misdeeds.  Your parents are supportive of you but, unfortunately, did not have sufficient time to supervise you.

8.   In view of the seriousness of the offence and the fact that you are not suitable for detention in a training centre, this leaves me little option but to sentence you to prison despite your young age of 17.  In following these guidelines as laid down in the Secretary for Justice v Hii Siew Cheng, you fall in the bracket of between 2 and 4 years’ imprisonment.  That is for over 1 gramme to 10 grammes of ketamine.

9.   I take in this case a starting point of 3 years' imprisonment.  I give you the full one-third discount for your plea of guilty and your remorse.  That sentence should be reduced to 2 years’ imprisonment to which you are so sentenced.