HKSAR v. MOK WING YAN

HCCC 302/2016

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 302 OF 2016

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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case

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COURT:

Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to Section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance. You have admitted on 31 December 2015, at Sham Shui Po, Kowloon, you unlawfully trafficked in 29.28 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 28.58 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, otherwise commonly known as “Ice”.

At about 2 am on that day, you were stopped by police officers who were on patrol. At that time, you were seated as the only passenger in a light goods vehicle. Having made inquiries with you, they found out that you were a wanted person in relation to a CSD supervision order. You were therefore arrested and taken to the Sham Shui Po Police Station.

Your handbag was searched in the station and the drugs as stated in the charge were found. They were contained in three separate packets, two smaller packets and one larger packet. The larger packet contained the solid of 20.1 grammes, the smaller packets contained 6.29 grammes of solid and 2.89 grammes of solid respectively.

Also found in the handbag was cash of $1,083.50, some empty resealable plastic bags, a number of mobile phone SIM chips, and a tablet computer.

On arrest, you said the drugs were for your own consumption. You also said that you lived in Shatin and hired this van and driver to take you home from Sham Shui Po.

The dangerous drugs as stated in the charge were valued at around $10,500. You are 30 years of age. You have 12 previous convictions, four are related to drugs. Of those four, three are for possession of dangerous drugs. In 2008, you were convicted of a similar offence, to which you were sentenced to 8 months’ imprisonment.

Your counsel Mr Ng has submitted that the two smaller bags of “Ice” were for your own consumption. That amounts to approximately one-third of the total quantity of drugs. He submits that as can be seen from your criminal record, you have been a consumer of drugs for over 10 years. Your last conviction in 2014 was that of possession of a dangerous drug and you were sentenced to the Drug Addiction Treatment Centre. He has also submitted a medical report from the Lo Wu Correctional Institution, whereby upon admission into the institution, a urine test was conducted, and on 3 January 2016, a day after you were admitted, the result showed positive for amphetamine, which is a compound of “Ice”.

Mr Ng says, at the relevant time, you were in fact living in Shatin with your boyfriend. Your boyfriend had given you money for your expenses. The night when you were intercepted, you were moving away from the Shatin premises, as you had a quarrel the night before and your boyfriend had threatened to report you to the CSD. You therefore took what was to you of the most importance, which were all the drugs, and as you are also a drug trafficker, you took the scales, the plastic bags, and your previous SIM cards, which had expired.

You had run away or were seeking to run away from the home for fear of being arrested by the police.

In considering the sentence upon you, I have taken into account the letters written by your mother and yourself. Your mother has really been very frank. She has obviously assisted you a lot in the care of your autistic son. Despite their (your parents) advanced age and exhaustion, they still look after your son and every other aspect of his life. Despite the many previous times you have committed offences, she is still there, standing by your side. You appear, on writing, to feel fortunate that your parents had been there for you and your son, and I hope you are sincere in saying that once you are released, you will take up your responsibility as a mother and look after your child and your parents.

You have realised it’s time to stay away from drugs. This is something you will have to do yourself to turn a new leaf. I accept that you are a drug dependent. You have three previous convictions, dating back to your first conviction of possession of a dangerous drug in 2004, some 12 years ago.

The drugs were packaged in such a way that there were two smaller bags and one larger bag, and I accept that the smaller bags were for your self-consumption, and on this basis, I am prepared to give you a discount for self-consumption of half the drugs that you were trafficking in.

Defendant, you were trafficking in 28.58 grammes of “Ice”. In following the leading case of Tam Yi Chun, that if you were convicted after trial, I would have taken a starting point of 8 years’ imprisonment. With reference to the case of HKSAR v Chow Chun Sang CACC 135/2011, CACC 159/2015, and the other case that Mr Ng submitted of Lau Yeuk Wa CACC 416/2015, I consider that a discount of 10 per cent would be appropriate from the starting point. In those circumstances the sentencing point will be one of 7 years and 2 months’ imprisonment, had you been convicted after trial.

Giving you full credit for your plea of guilty, that is, the usual one-third discount, your sentence will result in one of 4 years and 9 months’ imprisonment.