|
DCCC 1037/2016
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
CRIMINAL CASE NO 1037 OF 2016
------------------------------
------------------------------
| Present: |
Ms Choice Choi, Counsel on fiat, for HKSAR
Mr Fung Sik Yue, of S Y Fung, Solicitors, assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the defendant
|
| Offence: |
Trafficking in a dangerous drug（販運危險藥物） |
---------------------------------------
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
---------------------------------------
1. The defendant admitted to trafficking in 12.10 grammes of a mixture containing 9.02 grammes of heroin hydrochloride.
2. On the morning (9:15 am) of 26 September 2016, a police officer found the defendant who was holding a plastic bag in his hand looking around and acting furtively outside the Jade Market in Sham Shui Po. The officer went up to intercept the defendant who then threw the bag onto the ground. The bag was found to contain almost all the drugs as particularised in the charge that were all in pellet form and kept in three separate resealable bags. One more pellet of the drug in a packet weighing 0.17 grammes of a mixture containing heroin hydrochloride was found from the defendant’s excrement three days later after he was remanded in custody at the Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre. The defendant admitted he had swallowed the packet at the time of the arrest.
3. Also found on the defendant at the time of arrest was some HK$1,700, RMB$100 and two mobile phones. The estimated street value of all the drugs seized is about HK$9,600.
4. The defendant, aged 41, is single and has amassed 17 previous convictions over the past 25 years. Three are drug‑related, one of them trafficking and the other managing a divan. Counsel for the defendant did not really have much to say by way of mitigation besides telling the court that the defendant is a recipient of Social Assistance in the sum of HK$6,000 a month and his plea of guilty shows his remorse, saves the court’s time and resources.
5. For this type of offence there are sentencing guidelines. For trafficking up to 10 grammes a term of 2 to 5 years is to be considered. For the amount of drugs the defendant admitted trafficking, I take 56 months as a starting point. Apart from his guilty plea, there isn’t anything of substance that would justify a further reduction in sentence. He is entitled to a one-third discount.
6. He is therefore sentenced to a term of 37 months’ imprisonment.
|