HKSAR v. NGUYEN THU HA

DCCC 643/2013

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO 643 OF 2013

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Reasons for Sentence

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1. Ngyuen Thu Ha, you have pleaded guilty to a charge of cultivation of cannabis plants, contrary to section 9(1) and (5) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap.134.

2. There were 181 living plants involved, 167 of them were larger sized plants and 14 of them were seedlings.  They had a total weight of 8,892.38 grammes.  There were also leaves weighing 1,850 grammes involved.  Therefore, the total weight of the plants at the time of seizure and the leaves was 10,742 grammes.

3. The plants and leaves were found inside a flat in Apliu Street.  The two bedrooms and the living room of the flat were installed with a variety of equipment to enable cannabis plants to be successfully cultivated in the flat.  There were air pipes with exhaust fan-like devices, electric fans, ten sets of high-intensity lamps with covers, window-type air conditioners and electric timers.  In addition, there were soil and fertilisers and other cultivating equipment.

4. This was, therefore, a relatively sophisticated medium-sized operation.

5. I have been told that the cannabis plants and leaves found in the flat could produce about 996 grammes of herbal cannabis, which would have a street value at the time of around $107,316.

6. Mr Chan Siu-lun, an expert from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, has estimated that the approximate annual yield from these premises (based solely on the 167 plants, ignoring the seedlings) could be around 3,823 grammes of herbal cannabis; in other words, almost four times the quantity which could be produced from the leaves and plants found in the premises.

7. This was, therefore, an operation which was capable of producing a quite substantial profit.

8. You admitted that you were the person responsible for cultivating the cannabis in the flat.  You say that you were employed by someone else to do so and paid a wage of $500 a day and that you had been doing this for the previous two to three months.

9. You lived in another flat in the same building with two of your sons and you would go to the flat for a few hours each day in order to water the plants.

10. This is not, therefore, a case where you were cultivating the plants for your own consumption.  You knew that the plants were being cultivated for the purpose of supplying them to other people.  In other words, the plants were being cultivated for the purpose of trafficking.

11. The offence to which you have pleaded guilty is one that the law regards seriously.  It provides a maximum penalty of 15 years’ imprisonment and a $100,000 fine.

12. In considering the appropriate sentence, the prime concern of this court must be to deter others from falling into temptation to commit similar offences.

13. I bear in mind all that have been said on your behalf by Mr Lee.

14. At the time of the offence, you were a woman of 36 and a mother of four children.  You were living with two of them and you were solely responsible for looking after them.  You were tempted to commit this offence because you wanted to fund a trip back to Vietnam to visit family members.

15. I bear in mind that you were not the prime mover of this offence in the sense that it was somebody else who had set up this cultivation factory.

16. On the other hand, you would have been fully aware as soon as you saw this operation and were aware that what you were required to do that it was not simply wrong but that very serious consequences would follow if you were caught.

17. I am satisfied that the appropriate starting point in your case is 20 months’ imprisonment.

18. However, I take into account there are mitigating circumstances.  They include the fact that you pleaded guilty, indicating your remorse, and other circumstances that have been brought to my attention.

19. I have concluded that the appropriate sentence in your case is 11 months’ imprisonment.

(Discussion with defence counsel)

20. I activate the 2 months’ suspended sentence passed upon you.

21. Therefore, the total sentence is 13 months’ imprisonment.