HKSAR v. CHAU TING CHING

DCCC 1104/2013

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 1104 OF 2013

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REASONS FOR SENTENCE

1.  The defendant pleaded guilty to a charge of "Trafficking in a dangerous drug". The dangerous drug involved is cocaine.

Summary of Facts

2.  About 10:45 pm on 23 August 2013, DPC 33232 (PW1) was patrolling outside 1^st Floor, No.59 Woosung Street, Yau Ma Tei ("the Unit").  About 11:00 pm, PW1 saw the defendant walking up the stairs and placing a black plastic bag ("the Black Bag") on the carpet outside the Unit.  The defendant pressed the doorbell once and left.

3.  PW1 picked up the Black Bag and ran after the defendant.  He intercepted and arrested the defendant on the Ground Floor of that building.

4.  The Black Bag was later found to contain a total of 190 plastic bags which contained a total of 42.27 grammes of a solid containing 27.12 grammes of cocaine.

5.  In his video recorded interview, the defendant admitted that he had agreed to deliver something for a male named "Fei Jai" for a reward of $500.  Fei Jai gave him a mobile phone and told him to wait for his call.  On the day of his arrest, the defendant received a phone call asking him to go to a taxi stand on Nathan Road.  Upon arrival at the taxi stand, a male alighted from a taxi and told the defendant that the driver would take him to a foot massage establishment.  On arrival, the defendant was to walk up one floor, place the bag on the carpet, press the doorbell and leave.  The defendant then boarded the taxi and found a black plastic bag on the rear passenger seat.  The male gave him $500 and left.  The defendant checked the contents of the plastic bag and believed they were dangerous drugs.

Mitigation & Sentence

6.  The defendant is now 21 and has a clear record.  He was born and raised in Hong Kong.  He resides with his parents and a younger brother in a public housing unit.

7.  Defence counsel Mr. BOK informed me that the defendant left school after completing F.4.  He then took up casual jobs as a warehouse or decoration worker, earning about $4,000 to $5,000 per month. Mr. BOK submitted that the defendant was cooperative with the Police throughout and had told them everything he knew.  Mr. BOK further submitted that the defendant was used by Fei Jai as a foot soldier.  Unfortunately, he is unable to tell the Police any more about Fei Jei than he already knew.

8.  Time after time, the court has stressed the importance of conveying a clear message to the general public that "drug trafficking" is a serious crime and that drug traffickers would most certainly be punished by long-term imprisonment even for fresh offenders.

9.  I accept Mr. BOK's submission that the defendant was perhaps being used as a "foot soldier" by some real drug traffickers.  However, the "generals" would not be able to function effectively without any willing "foot soldiers".  This is the reason why the court would not deal with the "foot soldiers" leniently.

10.  The Court of Appeal has laid down clear sentencing guidelines for trafficking in cocaine (see Attorney General v Pedro Nel Rojas [1994] 2 HKCLR 69 and The Queen v LAU Tak-ming & others [1990] 2 HKLR 370).  For 10 to 50 grammes, the sentence ranges from 5 to 8 years' imprisonment.

11.  In the present case, the defendant trafficked in 27.12 grammes of cocaine.  For that amount, the appropriate starting point is 6 years' imprisonment.  A one-third discount is given for the guilty plea, reducing the sentence to 4 years.  Apart from this, I see no other mitigating factors which warrant any further discount.  Hence, I sentence the defendant to 4 years' imprisonment.