HKSAR v. HO CHUN KIT

DCCC 59/2010

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 59 OF 2010

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Reasons for Sentence

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Charge and facts

1.  The defendant pleads guilty to trafficking in a dangerous drug, ketamine. When he was going out of his flat in the evening of 12 November 2009, he was intercepted by the police who had laid ambush nearby. A search of his bedroom yielded inside a gold colour yuan-bao:

(a)  One plastic bag containing 11.38 grammes of a powder containing 8.77 grammes of ketamine;

(b)  One plastic bag containing 43 small empty plastic bags;

(c)  One electronic scale.

2.  After arrest and caution, he said:

(a)  All those things belonged to him;

(b)  The ketamine was for sale to others because he owed a debt of $180,000 to friends and credit cards;

(c)  He had obtained the drug, ½ oz, from Sheung Shui Railway Station;

(d)  The smaller plastic bags and electronic scale were for packaging and weighing the drug for sale;

(e)  The drug could make 23 bags, each weighing 0.8 gramme and be sold for $100;

(f)  He would earn about $800 for this batch of drug;

(g)  He was a drug addict;

(h)  He inhaled 0.6 gramme of ketamine twice per week;

(i)  He spent about $200 on ketamine per week.

Mitigation put forward

3.  The Defendant is 28 years of age. He was a construction site worker before arrest. His monthly income of $10,000 did not suffice for his family which comprised his wife, a 3-year-old daughter, a younger brother at school, and parents who held no jobs. He was himself a drug addict. He had to resort to the present offence to make ends meet. His family members and his employer have written mitigating letters to Court. Each demonstrates that he is a lovable person and not at all a man of bad character.

Sentencing guidelines

4. The Court of Appeal in Secretary for Justice v Hii Siew Cheng [2009] 1 HKLRD 1 had laid down sentencing guidelines for trafficking in ketamine. Between 1 gramme and 10 grammes, the sentence shall be between 2 and 4 years’ imprisonment. The drug in our present case, 8.77 grammes, would fall within this band. Sentencing present defendant

5.  Counsel for the Defendant submits the case of HKSAR v Li Wan-ting DCCC 1236/2009 purportedly to show some parity with our present case. In that case, the defendant was a courier for a reward of $200 for 3 packets which contained a total of 8.45 grammes of ketamine. The sentencing judge took a starting point of 3 years. I can readily see the gravity of our present case when compared with that case. The present Defendant was both a packager and seller of drug. He was running a retailing business in substance. While I have immense sympathy toward his family and in particular his daughter, it would not take much imagination to know that his offence could ruin a number of families, some of which probably having a child of tender age.

6.  For his role as a packager and seller of drug, I take 4 years as the starting point. I reduce it by one-third due to his plea of guilty. The sentence is 2 years and 8 months.