HKSAR v. WONG KIN WAI

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF APPEAL

1997, No. 686
(Criminal)

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J U D G M E N T

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Mayo, J.A. (giving the judgment of the Court):

1. The Applicant pleaded guilty to being in possession of dangerous drugs and was sentenced to detention in a Training Centre. He now seeks leave to appeal against this sentence.

2. The facts of the case were unremarkable. The police officers searched him in a building in Mongkok at 7:00 p.m. in the evening on 17th June 1997 and found what they suspected to be a quantity of dangerous drugs. It subsequently transpired that the package contained 42.71 grammes of a mixture containing 37.88 grammes of heroin hydrochloride.

3. At the time of the offence the Applicant was aged 18. He had previously been in trouble. He had been convicted on two previous occasions of being in possession of and publishing obscene articles.

4. The main complaint he makes in his application for leave is that in another case a young man was similarly sentenced to be detained in a Training Centre when he had pleaded guilty to trafficking in dangerous drugs.

5. That may well be the case. However what is of concern to us is whether the sentence which was imposed upon this Applicant was the proper sentence.

6. It would appear from all of the material which is before us that this was eminently the right sentence. Attendance at the Training Centre and learning a useful trade is exactly what this young man needs to set him on the right track again.

7. There is no merit in this application and it is dismissed.