R. v. NG HING CHEUNG

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL

1995, No. 264

(Criminal)

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J U D G M E N T

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Ching JA (delivering the judgment of the Court):

1. The applicant seeks leave to appeal against the sentence of 3½ years' imprisonment imposed upon him for simple possession of dangerous drugs. He was stopped in the street in the evening of the 2nd of August 1994 and a search revealed a plastic bag with four packets of a mixture of 117.44 grammes containing 27.72 grammes of salts of esters of morphine upon him. There had been an attempt to escape and a severe struggle before he was arrested. The applicant admitted the possession upon his arrest but claimed that the drugs were for his own use. He pleaded guilty.

2. In sentencing him, the judge below used a starting point of 5 years. He appears to have been referring to the guidelines laid down for sentencing in trafficking offences and complaint is made of this.

3. However that may be, although the starting point of 5 years may be high we cannot say in the circumstances of the present case that it was too high. The judge below then allowed a discount of 18 months for the plea of guilty. There were no other mitigating factors.

4. Another argument that was raised on this appeal was that the judge below failed to give any or any sufficient weight to the contents of a Drug Addiction Treatment Centre Suitability Report. A point made is that the applicant was cooperative and appears to wish to cure himself of his addiction. He has a long record of convictions for larceny, wounding and assault. In addition, in 1987, he was sentenced to 6½ years' imprisonment for possession for the purposes of trafficking and in 1992, he was put on probation for 2 years for simple possession.

5. In the circumstances of the case, the sentence imposed upon the applicant has not been shown to be wrong and his application for leave is, therefore, dismissed.