HKSAR v. CULKOVS VADIMS

HCCC 41/2017

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 41 OF 2017

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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case

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COURT: On 13 February 2017, the defendant, who is now aged 25, pleaded guilty at the Eastern Magistrates Court to the charge of trafficking in 973 grammes of a solid containing 792 grammes of cocaine, valued at $1.22 million.

The offence was discovered on 27 April last year, when the defendant, who is from Latvia, was intercepted at the airport. His luggage was X-rayed. Three metal boxes of what purported to be chocolates were found inside a plastic bag and amongst the chocolates that were in the boxes was found the cocaine, the subject of this charge.

The defendant now accepts that his sole purpose for coming to Hong Kong was to traffic in those drugs. In fact, a smartphone found on the defendant linked him to cocaine trafficking and in particular to a person who was using the name ‘Jack Jones’.

The defendant is not a stranger to the courts but his previous conviction in Latvia was for an offence of a different nature and has no bearing on the sentence in this case.

The guidelines for sentence in cocaine cases follow those for heroin in Lau Tak Ming & Others [1990] 2 HKLR 370. Those guidelines only extend up to 600 grammes for which a sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment is the recommended tariff. However, in HKSAR v Abdallah Anwar Abbas [2009] 2 HKC 197, a guideline bracket of 20 to 23 years’ imprisonment is the suggested starting point for quantities of between 600 and 1,200 grammes of cocaine. The amount in this case was nearly 200 grammes over 600 grammes and in addition, there was an international element to this offence.

I am quite sure that Mr McNamara will have explained to you the guidelines for sentence that we have in Hong Kong for cases of this kind. You have, very sensibly, pleaded guilty and you have done so at the earliest opportunity which means that you will receive the full discount on sentence.

I shall take a starting point of 21 years’ imprisonment, enhanced by a further year to take into account the international element. This makes a starting point, after trial, of 22 years’ imprisonment, but having regard to your early confession, this will be reduced by one-third.

So your sentence is a sentence of 14 years 8 months’ imprisonment.