HKSAR v. TSE KWOK CHUN

DCCC 403/2014

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO 403 OF 2014

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  The defendant has pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking in 10.78 grammes of ketamine. He has also pleaded guilty to a charge of resisting a police officer in the execution of his duty.

2.  The facts admitted by the defendant state that on 18 March 2014, in the early hours of the morning, two officers spotted the defendant acting suspiciously next to a food stall near Chi Wo House in Sha Tin.  The defendant was searched, and the officers found a plastic bag in his left front pocket of his trousers which contained 10.37 grammes of ketamine. He admitted that he was on his way to deliver those drugs.

3.  The officers made a post-record of the admission made by the defendant at the scene, and when the defendant was signing the police notebook -- sorry, after he signed the police notebook, he suddenly pushed one of the officers with both hands, causing the officer to take a couple of steps backwards.  The officers followed and chased after the defendant, and the defendant suddenly turned round and pushed the same officer in the chest with both of his hands, causing that officer to fall to the ground.  And the officer’s shoe came off. 

4.  The defendant in the course of running away threw away a plastic bag which was later retrieved and found to contain 0.41 grammes of ketamine. 

5.  The officers eventually detained the defendant and subdued him.  The officers later went to his residence where he lives with his mother and his elder brother and found an electronic scale in the drawer in the living room and he admitted that that was used for weighing drugs.

6.  The officer whom the defendant pushed to the floor later received treatment at the Prince of Wales Hospital and was found to sustain abrasions on his left hand and both legs.  He was granted four days’ sick leave.

7.  The defendant was in possession of a mobile phone at the time of his arrest, but he had no cash.

8.  The street value of the ketamine seized from the defendant was estimated to be worth just under $3,000.

9.  The defendant has one matter recorded on his record.  In May 2012 for an identical offence of trafficking in dangerous drugs, he was imprisoned for 3 years and 8 months.  I am told that he was discharged from prison on 30 January this year and he is currently under rehabilitation supervision until January next year.

10.  The defendant was born on the mainland and he came to Hong Kong when he was 6 years of age.  His father passed away in 2010. The defendant was educated to Form 3 standard, and after leaving school he has had a variety of jobs.  At the time of his arrest, he was working as a storekeeper earning some twelve to fourteen thousand dollars per month.  I am told that he joined the triad society in 2007 and started abusing drugs two years later and was taking Ice and cocaine.

11.  As the defendant knows, the 1st charge is an extremely serious charge and the sentencing range is between 4 to 6 years.

12.  The only mitigation in this case is the defendant has admitted the offence and he is therefore entitled for a reduction of sentence to reflect that guilty plea.

13.  I propose to take a starting point of 4 years’ imprisonment.  I reduce that by one-third to reflect the defendant’s guilty plea.  The sentence on that charge will be 32 months’ imprisonment.

14.  As regards the 2nd charge of resisting a police officer, fortunately, the injuries sustained by the officer were not serious.  I propose to take a starting point of 3 months in respect of that sentence and reduce it by 1 month to reflect the defendant’s guilty plea.  And the sentence on Charge 2 will therefore be a sentence of 2 months’ imprisonment.

15.  I have considered the question of totality. Given the nature of the 2nd charge, in my view, the sentence should be imposed consecutively.  I therefore sentence the defendant to a total of 34 months’ imprisonment.