HKSAR v. HO MING WAI

DCCC 754/2013

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO 754 OF 2013

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  Ho Ming-wai, you have been convicted on your own pleas of one charge of trafficking in dangerous drugs, one charge of possession of apparatus fit and intended for the smoking of a dangerous drug, and one charge of possession of dangerous drugs.

2.  These three charges arise out of a raid by the police at your home in Po Lam Estate in Tseung Kwan O on the evening of 23 May this year.  You were present in the flat together with your parents and another member of the family.  You immediately admitted to the police that you had drugs in the flat, and you told the police that some were in your bedroom and that others were in a wardrobe next to the entrance to the flat.  You told the police that other members of your family had nothing to do with the drugs.

3.  The charge of trafficking relates to the cocaine that was found in the flat, 5.56 grammes of a solid containing 4.84 grammes of cocaine.  In an upper compartment of the wardrobe in the living room, the police found six resealable bags containing cocaine.  The quantity in those bags was 1.21 grammes of a solid containing 1.09 grammes of cocaine.  Next to your bed, the police found a jar containing two bags of cocaine.  In one of those bags, there were 21 resealable plastic bags, 16 of which contained 3.37 grammes of a solid containing 2.93 grammes of cocaine.  In the other bag, there were 10 resealable bags, 5 of which contained 0.98 grammes of a solid containing 0.82 grammes of cocaine.

4.  The estimated street value of this cocaine was over $5,000.  Beside your bed were two electronic scales and a pile of empty resealable plastic bags which were obviously to be used by you in connection with your trafficking activities.  Also in the bedroom, the police found the smoking paraphernalia that is the subject of the 2nd charge.  You admitted that they were for your consumption of methamphetamine hydrochloride, and indeed the glass bottles contained traces of methamphetamine. 

5.  Alongside your bed the police found another jar containing the drugs that are the subject of the 3rd charge of possession of dangerous drugs.  Inside the jar, there were three resealable plastic bags containing 3.2 grammes of a powder containing 2.14 grammes of ketamine, and another three resealable plastic bags containing 0.42 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 0.41 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride.  The ketamine had a street value of just over $400, and the methamphetamine hydrochloride had a street value of just over $300.  

6.  You admitted that the ketamine and the methamphetamine hydrochloride were for your own consumption.  You told the police that you had bought the drugs found in your flat a few days previously for $5,000 and that you intended to consume some yourself and to sell the rest to others.  You would sell them for between 100 and $200 per packet.

7.  Trafficking in dangerous drugs is a very serious offence.  You can have been in no doubt that very serious consequences would follow if you were caught. 

8.  In deciding on the appropriate starting point for the charge of trafficking, I take into account that a small part of the total may have been for your own consumption.  I also take into account that you have got no previous convictions relating to dangerous drugs.  Although you have a number of previous convictions, you have not been before the courts for more than 12 years.

9.  Taking all the circumstances into account, I am of the view that the appropriate starting point on the 1st charge, the trafficking charge, is 3 and a half years’ imprisonment.  On the 2nd charge, I adopt a starting point of 4 and a half months’ imprisonment.  And on the 3rd charge of possession of dangerous drugs, I adopt a starting point of 12 months’ imprisonment.  I am prepared to accept that there was very little latent risk that you would traffic in the ketamine and the methamphetamine hydrochloride to which the charge relates.

10.  I have listened to all that Mr Cheung has said on your behalf.  The only real mitigation in this case is that you immediately admitted to the police your involvement with these drugs and have pleaded guilty today.  Those factors entitle you to a discount of one-third on the starting points to which I have referred.

11.  On Charge 1, I sentence you to 28 months’ imprisonment.  On Charge 2, I sentence you to 3 months’ imprisonment, to run concurrently.  On Charge 3, I sentence you to 8 months’ imprisonment, 4 months of which are to run consecutively to the sentence on Charge 1. So that means a total sentence of 32 months, 2 years 8 months.