The defendant pleaded guilty at committal on 31 July 2015 to one count of trafficking in dangerous drugs, methamphetamine hydrochloride, herbal cannabis and heroin hydrochloride in the quantities as set out in the charge. He confirmed today his plea to the charge and the facts that he admitted before the magistrate.
Those facts show that he was stopped and searched when the police noticed him wandering suspiciously on Hennessy Road. A plastic bag containing 0.67 grammes of crystalline solid containing 0.66 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride was found at his waist.
Police took the defendant to his residence, but they could not open the door with the keys the defendant had. A woman’s voice was heard inside the flat and eventually she opened the door. The police had a search warrant and searched the flat. In the refrigerator, they found two plastic bags containing a total of 4.73 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 4.67 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, a lighter, and two bottles adapted for the consumption of methamphetamine hydrochloride.
In the living room was found 7.96 grammes of herbal cannabis, three tablets of sildenafil (Part I poison), two plastic straws, an electronic scale and a quantity of resealable plastic bags.
In the bathroom, the police recovered 54.4 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 53.8 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, as well as 6.64 grammes of a mixture containing 4.68 grammes of heroin hydrochloride.
After arrest and caution, the defendant told the police the items belonged to him, not the woman. Both the defendant and the woman were named on the tenancy agreement to the premises.
The defendant admits and accepts that he knowingly had all the drugs listed in the charge for unlawful trafficking. The estimated retail value of the drug at the time of arrest was HK$29,511.
The defendant has a criminal record; since July 2007, there have been nine items on his criminal record, comprising 12 convictions. Five of the convictions were for minor drug offences. There are no convictions for trafficking. The remainder of the convictions relate to shop theft.
The antecedent statement confirms that the defendant was born on 26 July 1983, in India, where his mother still lives. He was educated to secondary level. He is unable to read or write English or Chinese. He came to Hong Kong in 2005, and has been unemployed since that time. He became a Form 8 holder in 2006.
He told the officer who took the antecedent statement that he has been addicted to cannabis and methamphetamine hydrochloride for about five years. The first conviction on the record supports that claim to some extent, as do the shoplifting convictions. The shoplifting convictions are also relevant to his life as an asylum seeker.
The defendant had a mixture of drugs for trafficking, the greatest quantity of narcotic being 59.13 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride. He had 4.68 grammes of heroin hydrochloride and 7.96 grammes of herbal cannabis.
The revised guidelines for methamphetamine hydrochloride, are in HKSAR v Tam Yi Chun CACC524/2011. The total quantity of narcotic trafficked by the defendant is within the band of 10 to 70 grammes, which attracts a sentence in the range of 7 to 11 years. Given the quantity of narcotic, the starting point for sentence would be towards the top end of the range.
4.68g of heroin hydrochloride, on the basis of Lau Tak Ming, comes into the sentencing range of 2 to 5 years, and the starting point would be at the beginning of the range.
For the small quantity of herbal cannabis, I note that it is under 2,000 grammes, and in fact, if it was dealt with, in isolation, a sentence of 4 months’ imprisonment is indicated on the basis of HKSAR v Chor Lui [2001] 3 HKLRD 95.
The trafficking of a variety of drugs is an aggravating factor on sentence. Defence counsel has told me the defendant is a user, and for that reason, some discount should be given on the basis that some of the dangerous drugs was for his own consumption. He suggests it should be in the range of about 50 grammes. I accept that some discount should be given for the fact that he is a user. I would have adopted a starting point of 11 years, but taking all matters into account, I drop the starting point to 9 years. I give him the full one-third discount, and sentence him to 6 years’ imprisonment.