HKSAR v. MASSOGOA NASRA HASSANI

HCCC 234/2013

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 234 OF 2013

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Transcript of the Audio Recording

of the Sentence in the above Case

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COURT: Defendant, you have been committed to this court for sentence having pleaded guilty in the court below to an offence of trafficking in a dangerous drug contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134, Laws of Hong Kong, the particulars being that you, on 21 December of last year at the arrivals hall of Hong Kong International Airport, trafficked in 0.56 kilogrammes of heroin hydrochloride.

The Summary of Facts which you have agreed are quite simple and establish that upon your arrival at the airport you were suspected to have concealed drugs in your body. You were therefore sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital where the following day you discharged the drugs being the subject matter of the charge.

An aggravating feature of this offence is of course the fact that there is an international element here in that you brought these drugs into Hong Kong for the purposes of disposal.

In sentencing you, I take into account all that has been put before me by way of mitigation and I particularly note that the reason for your committing this offence was to obtain money for the payment of your mother’s medical expenses.

However, it is your plea of guilty which is the only real mitigation here and I will give you credit for that in sentencing you.

The case of R v Lau Tak Ming [1992] HKLR 370 provides guidelines for the sentencing of trafficking in heroin and, for amounts between 400 to 600 grammes, the normal starting point ranges between 15 and 20 years’ imprisonment. In this case, the court is dealing with 560 grammes. Accordingly, I take as my starting point a term of 18 years’ imprisonment.

I will increase that starting point by 1 year to take account of the aggravating feature that I have identified, coming to 19 years’ imprisonment.

I give you the full one-third discount in sentence to reflect your plea of guilty arriving at a sentence of 12 years and 8 months’ imprisonment.