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HCCC247/2012
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 247 OF 2012
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| Date: |
14 September 2012 at 10.39 am |
| Present: |
Mr W T Chiu, Senior Public Prosecutor of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR |
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Mr Peter Julian Cahill, 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: I have to sentence you for trafficking in a dangerous drug. The drug in question was heroin and you were stopped at the airport, having ingested some 890 grammes of it.
I know it will have been explained to you that sentencing in cases like this depends upon guidelines which, in turn, are based upon the nature of the drug and the quantity of it. You fall into the category of 600 grammes to 1200 grammes, attracting a starting point of imprisonment after trial of 20 to 23 years’ imprisonment.
I am bound to reflect in the sentence the fact that you were carrying drugs across an international border because you had arrived on a flight from Ethiopia.
I have read the letter that you wrote to me and I have heard your counsel in mitigation. It is the unfortunate fact that many men in your position are driven to do what they have done by reason of financial hardship. One of the advantages of pleading guilty, as you did, at the earliest opportunity is that you have not spent your credibility and I will act on the basis that what caused your financial hardship was the fact that you undertook the care of your dead brother’s family.
The sentencing is not entirely mathematical but it has to reflect the quantity of the drug and I will take a starting point in your case of 21 years’ imprisonment. I am bound to enhance that by a year because of the international element and that would give, after trial, a sentence of 22 years.
Your plea of guilty earns you a one-third discount and that would give a sentence of 14 years and 8 months. But as I said, it is not entirely mathematical and I will proceed on the basis of the tragedy in your brother’s family as being a cause here. I cannot give that too much weight but what I will do is I will round the sentence down to 14 years.
I do not believe I do anyone else any injustice by taking that small step in your favour. You will appreciate the need for consistency in cases like this and it is the unfortunate case that there are many cases like this.
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