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HCCC 430/2012
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO 430 OF 2012
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HKSAR |
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Fu Chi-man (傅志敏) |
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| Before: |
The Honourable Madam Justice Beeson |
| Date: |
23 January 2013 at 10.04 am |
| Present: |
Mr Cheng Chi-hang, Andrew, SPP(Ag) of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR |
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Mr Frederic Charles Whitehouse, instructed by To, Lam & Co, assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the accused |
| Offence: |
Trafficking in a dangerous drug (販運危險藥物) |
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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case
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COURT: The defendant pleaded guilty at committal on 16 November 2012 to one count of trafficking in dangerous drugs. The drug was 0.23 kilograms of a powder containing 0.20 kilograms of ketamine.
The defendant has now confirmed that plea and confirmed also the Summary of Facts to which he pleaded in November. Those facts show that the police on an anti-dangerous drugs operation saw the defendant acting furtively in a taxi which was stationary outside 23 Shiu Wo Street.
Subsequent inquiry and search revealed that the defendant was carrying a quantity of suspected ketamine in a bag. Under caution he admitted that the substance he was carrying was ketamine. He said that earlier on that day a friend had asked him to carry the bag of ketamine to Tsuen Wan where someone would call him to collect it and he was promised a reward of $500. The defendant told police he had agreed to do the job as he was in debt.
Analysis by the Government Chemist confirmed the nature and quantity of the drug as set out in the particulars of the charge and the estimated retail value of the drug was $27,370.
The defendant is aged 22 years and has a clear record. He came to Hong Kong with his family from Mainland China when he was 6 and was educated up to Form 3 level in Hong Kong. At the date of his arrest he was living with his parents and his brother and sister. He had been employed as a kitchen staff in a restaurant since he left school, and at the time of his arrest was earning $13,000 a month. I am advised that he was contributing $4,000 of that to his parents on a monthly basis.
In considering sentence I take into account the fact the defendant has a clear record, he co-operated with the police immediately on his arrest, that he made an early plea at committal, and he is entitled to a full discount of one-third of the sentence.
The range of sentence for this quantity of narcotic is 6 to 9 years according to the guideline case, which is Secretary for Justice v Hii Siew Cheng[2009]1HKLRD1.
In this case I take a starting point of 6 years and I sentence the defendant to 4 years’ imprisonment giving him the full discount.
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