HKSAR v. LAM KA SHING

DCCC 547/2015

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 547 OF 2015

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REASONS FOR SENTENCE

The defendant pleaded guilty to a charge of "Trafficking in a dangerous drug". The dangerous drug involved is ketamine.

Summary of Facts

2.  About 7:40 pm on 6 May 2015, PCs 5905 and 3758 stopped the defendant for enquiry at the staircase of the 25^th Floor, Hin Fu House, Hin Keng Estate, Shatin.

3.  Upon search, amongst other things, the following items were found on the defendant :-

(i) 2 transparent plastic bags which contained a total of 9.07 grammes of a powder containing 6.73 grammes of ketamine; and

(ii) 18 small transparent resealable plastic bags ("E2").

4.  Under caution, the defendant admitted that he was carrying the drugs to the scene on behalf of someone for a reward of $200.  In his record of interview, the defendant admitted that when he was intercepted, he was about to hide the ketamine behind a standpipe at the staircase, and would recover it upon receiving instructions from his boss. He also admitted that he purchased E2 for the purpose of distributing the ketamine to clients.

Mitigation & Sentence

5.  The defendant is now 23 and has 4 conviction records, which include 3 "simple possession" offences and 1 "trafficking" offence.  His last conviction is a "trafficking" offence, for which he was sentenced to 40 months' imprisonment.  He was released in December 2014.

6.  Defence counsel Ms. LO informed me that the defendant has an unfortunate background.  His parents had a divorce when he was 13.  The defendant left school after F.2 and became an apprentice in a hair salon.  Since he received hardly any parental supervision, the defendant mingled with bad peers and started to abuse ketamine.  At the time of his arrest, he was a part-time delivery worker earning about $10,000 per month.

7.  In mitigation, Ms. LO submitted that despite having been in trouble with the law, the defendant is a responsible and caring son.  Seeing that his mother's health is deteriorating, he tried hard to relieve her burden by making financial contribution to the family. Letters from the defendant and his mother were placed before me; their contents are duly noted.  Ms. LO has also asked for a proper discount for self-consumption.  She submitted that it was the defendant's intention to consume the ketamine contained in the smaller bag (which weighed about 1 gramme at the police station) and whatever amount he could not sell.

8.  A clear message must be conveyed to the general public that "drug trafficking" is a serious crime and that drug traffickers would most certainly be punished by long-term imprisonment even for fresh offenders.

9.  The Court of Appeal has laid down clear sentencing guidelines for trafficking in ketamine (see  SJ v HII Siew Cheng [2009] 1 HKLRD 1).  For up to 10 grammes, the sentence ranges from 2 to 4 years' imprisonment.

10.  The defendant trafficked in 6.73 grammes of ketamine.  For that quantity, the appropriate starting point is 3 years' imprisonment.  I make it clear that I did not raise the starting point despite the fact that this is his 2^nd conviction of "drug trafficking" and that he committed the present offence in less than 6 months after his prison release.

11.  Regarding the claim for self-consumption, I have reminded myself of the relevant sentencing principles[1]. The defendant has previous convictions of "simple possession".  I accept that he might well be a drug addict.  I am prepared to reduce the sentence to 32 months[2] to reflect the discount for self-consumption.

12.  Finally, a one-third discount is given for the guilty plea, reducing the sentence further to 21 months. I hereby sentence the defendant to 21 months' imprisonment.