HKSAR v. YEUNG SAI KIT

DCCC1209/2010

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 1209 OF 2010

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  The 1st defendant was convicted after trial of a charge of trafficking in 29.93 grammes of ketamine. The circumstances surrounding the commission of the offence are that at 3:58 pm on 4 September 2010, a team of police officers were conducting a patrol in Kwong Chi House, Kwong Fuk Estate in Tai Po. The defendant then was on the 17th floor of that building.

2.  When the officers reached the 17th floor of the building, the first officer noticed through the transparent glass door of the fire door that the 1st defendant was chatting with two other men.  The defendant was seen to hand items to the two other men.  He was seen to take these out from a Gucci bag which he was carrying.  The officers then came through the fire doors and at that stage the 1st defendant ran away.  He was chased and detained by the first police officer.  He was searched, and drugs were found in his possession, and an electronic scale.  Drugs were also found in the possession of the two other men with whom he had been seen chatting. The total amount of drugs involved was 29.93 grammes of ketamine.

3.  The defendant has a number of previous convictions.  He has been before the court on five previous occasions, and most of those appearances were for drug-related offences.  He has a conviction for trafficking in 1998, and he appeared before the court twice for two offences in 2009, for which he was sentenced to a drug addiction treatment centre for possession of dangerous drugs and Part I poison.  And most recently, on 19 October 2010, for possession of dangerous drugs, he was ordered to go to the drug addiction treatment centre.  And it is clear from the sequence of events that the defendant was on bail for those offences when he committed the present offence.

4.  In mitigation, I was told that the defendant has a mother who is 53 years of age who is a saleslady, and a father who is also in his mid-50s who is, sadly, not in the best of health.  He is suffering from a serious heart condition.  The defendant, who was born in Hong Kong, is now aged 26 and had been working as a lorry attendant.   

5.  Given his record the defendant is no doubt aware,  that the courts take a very serious view of trafficking in dangerous drugs.  For trafficking in quantities of between 10 and 50 grammes, the Court of Appeal has said the appropriate sentence should be between 4 and 6 years’ imprisonment. 

6.  The quantity in this case falls in the middle of that sentencing band.  In addition, the defendant committed the offence whilst on bail for other drug-related matters.  The abuse of ketamine is a major social problem in Hong Kong, especially amongst young people, which is why the Court of Appeal has said that lengthy prison sentences should be imposed on traffickers. 

7.  Having considered everything that has been said, it seems to me that the appropriate sentence in this case is a sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment.