Background and the Facts
The defendant pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug in the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on 12 September 2014. This morning, he confirmed his plea and accepted the Summary of Facts.
Briefly, in the early hours of 12 February 2014, the defendant was intercepted by the police at the corridor of the 2nd floor of a public housing estate in Tin Shui Wai. Feeling suspicious, the police then conducted the house search of the defendant’s home which was on that floor.
As a result, the drug particularised in the count, that is, a total of 190 grammes of a powder containing 150 grammes of ketamine was found inside a plastic bag. There were some other paraphernalia like an electronic scale and resealable plastic bags. These items were all seized from the TV cabinet in the living room.
Under caution, the defendant admitted that he was the one who put the drug there and it had nothing to do with his family. The estimated street value of the drug was about HK$22,000.
Mitigation
The defendant is 21 years of age and prior to the commission of this offence, he had a clear record. The defendant is single and was living with his family at the time of his arrest. The defendant had respectively worked in a warehouse, a salon and a kitchen in 2012. In September 2013, the defendant resumed his studies and was a Form 6 student. That remained the case at the time of the offence.
Mr Wong for the defendant told the court that as the pocket money given to the defendant by his parents for spending was not enough, the defendant was persuaded to deliver the ketamine for a friend at a reward of HK$3,000. However, before the defendant could complete the task, he was arrested by the police.
In mitigation, Mr Wong submitted that the defendant is relatively young and there stands a good chance for him to turn over a new leaf. In the circumstances, Mr Wong urged this court to pass as lenient a sentence as possible.
The sentence
In SJ v Hii Siew Cheng & Anor [2009] 1 HKLRD 1, the Court of Appeal laid down the tariffs for trafficking in ketamine. For trafficking 50 to 300 grammes of ketamine, a term of imprisonment of 6 to 9 years is called for.
Having considered the facts of this case and that a total of 150 grammes of ketamine was involved, I am of the view that a starting point of 7 years and 3 months is appropriate. However, considering the defendant’s background, I am prepared to give him a reduction of 6 months and to lower the starting point to one of 6 years and 9 months.
Although Mr Wong mentioned the relative youth of the defendant, he does not belong to the extreme youth category and therefore, no reduction on that basis could be granted to him.
The defendant pleaded guilty. He would receive a one-third reduction in sentence. Other than this, there are no other matters which would further reduce the sentence. 6 years and 9 months reduced by one-third is 4½ years’ imprisonment. The defendant is therefore to serve a term of 4½ years.