HKSAR v. CHAN LAI YIN

DCCC 419/2014

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO 419 OF 2014

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  The defendant has pleaded guilty to two offences of trafficking in a dangerous drug. He has admitted the facts of the case and I have convicted him on both of those offences.

2.  Both offences occurred on the same day, that is 10 March 2014, and at 12.10 pm, outside a shopping centre in Ma On Shan, after alighting from a taxi, the defendant was intercepted and a body search was conducted on him.  At that time, 10 resealable plastic bags of cocaine were found in the left back pocket of his trousers.  He admitted immediately that it was cocaine, that he had got it from a friend called Ah Bong and he was delivering it to Ma On Shan for $500.

3.  The total amount of cocaine found at that time was 1.13 grammes of a solid containing 0.55 grammes of cocaine.  Later that afternoon and early evening, the defendant was taken back to his home in Lam Tin and a house search was conducted.  A further 172 plastic bags of cocaine were found together with an electronic scale, a plastic lid, plastic straws, 23 empty transparent resealable plastic bags.  The 172 plastic bags contained a total of 27.9 grammes of a solid containing 13.66 grammes of cocaine.  There was a further 0.02 grammes found on a plastic straw and a further trace found on the scales and the empty bags.  

4.  The total amount of cocaine is 14.23 grammes, and the cocaine found in the bags is valued at $41,396, and the defendant accepts that he was trafficking in the dangerous drugs found on his possession and also in his home.

5.  The defendant has admitted his antecedent statement and his previous criminal record.  He is 18 years old.  He has one conviction for possession of a dangerous drug on 9 August 2011 when he was sent to a reformatory school.  His antecedent says he has a history of drug abuse from the age of 15 to 16 which is borne out by his conviction.  On his instruction, he was unemployed at the time of his arrest but he has worked as a kitchen worker in the past.

6.  In mitigation, I am asked to take into account the defendant’s plea of guilty and the remorse shown by that, that he is still a young man.  He is 18 years old, will be 19 in December.  He attributes the commission of this offence to the financial problems that he was suffering at the time.

7.  There are of course clear guidelines for the sentencing of offences of trafficking in dangerous drugs.  The defendant’s young age does not mean that the full force of sentencing will not apply to him, as a rehabilitative approach is not necessarily appropriate in cases of trafficking in substantial quantities of dangerous drug. 

8.  The total of drug in this case in the two charges is just over 14 grammes of cocaine.  This puts them together in the range of 10 to 50 grammes which is a sentencing range of 5 to 8 years’ imprisonment.  Naturally, the total will be towards the bottom end of that figure.  I do take into account the defendant’s plea of guilty.  He is entitled to the full discount, that he is young, that he has not built up, as it were, a record of drug offences, it is clear that his sentencing in 2011 was not sufficient to deter him from his involvement in dangerous drugs.  

9.  I have decided to sentence the two charges as follows.  On the 1st charge, I will take a starting point of 2 years’ imprisonment.  Having regard to the defendant’s plea of guilty, I reduce that to 16 months’ imprisonment.  On the 2nd charge, I will take a starting point at 63 months’ imprisonment.  That is 5 years and 3 months’ imprisonment.  I will reduce that to 42 months’ imprisonment, having regard to the defendant’s plea of guilty.  

10.  Having regard to the overall totality and the fact that the offences were committed on the same day, I will order the sentences to be served concurrently.  So it is a total of 42 months’ imprisonment or 3 years and 6 months’ imprisonment.