HKSAR v. TSE SZE WAI JEROMY

HCCC 205/2014

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 205 OF 2014

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

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COURT: The defendant, Tse Sze-wai Jeromy, a 30-year-old man, has pleaded guilty before me on a count of unlawfully trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to Section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134.

The particulars of offence are that on 10 December 2013 at Tin Wah Road near Tin Ying Road, Tin Shui Wai, New Territories, in Hong Kong, he unlawfully trafficked in a dangerous drug, namely 4.95 kilogrammes of a powder containing 4.18 kilogrammes of cocaine.

He has admitted the summary of facts prepared by the prosecution.

It reads:

“On 10 December 2013, police officers from the Narcotics Bureau, including DPC 34083, kept observation at the Lau Fau San roundabout in the New Territories in Hong Kong.

At 0815 hours, a taxi stopped at the roundabout and the passenger, later identified as the defendant, alighted the taxi and walked hurriedly to the nearby public washroom. The defendant was holding a brown reusable bag in his right hand.

About a minute later, the defendant left the public washroom carrying the same brown reusable bag over his right shoulder and hailed another taxi (that is, SJ 980) and boarded it. The taxi moved off in the direction of Lau Fau San Road.

The police followed SJ 980 and the taxi stopped at the traffic lights at Tin Wah Road, Tin Shui Wai. The police officers then approached the taxi. Other than the defendant and the taxi driver, there was no one else present inside the vehicle. The defendant was seen holding the brown bag.

The defendant was asked to alight the taxi. The defendant’s identity was checked and his brown bag was searched. Inside the brown bag, the officers found a pink reusable plastic bag which contained five brown-coloured plastic wrappings containing suspected dangerous drugs.

At 0820 hours, the defendant was arrested and cautioned for the offence of trafficking in a dangerous drug, to which he replied, ‘Ah Sir, I received $15,000 from someone for taking the cocaine to Shui Tsiu for handing it over to someone else.’

The defendant was escorted back to Tin Shui Wai Police Station for further enquiries.

In a subsequent video recorded interview, the defendant stated, inter alia:

(a) He knew a person known as ‘Ah B’ and it was Ah B who offered him the $15,000 to collect the cocaine from the last cubicle of the public washroom and deliver the same to Shui Tsiu (a village in Yuen Long);

(b) Ah B telephoned the defendant that morning, giving him the instructions. The defendant therefore followed the instructions and retrieved the dangerous drugs from the public washroom. The defendant had not yet received payment of the $15,000.

The suspected dangerous drugs were sent to the Government Chemist for analysis. The Government Chemist determined the five packets contained 4.95 kilogrammes of a powder containing 4.18 kilogrammes of cocaine. The estimated retail value of the seized cocaine was $5,519,250.

The defendant accepts that at the material time he trafficked in the dangerous drug.”

According to Cross & Cheung’s Sentencing in Hong Kong, 7th edition, page 628, para 15, and pages 630 to 631, para 20, and the authorities cited in those paragraphs, especially R v Lau Tak Ming & Ors [1990] 2 HKLR 330, the case whereby the Court of Appeal set down the sentencing guidelines for trafficking in heroin, and the case of HKSAR v Abdallah Anwar Abbas [2009] 2 HKC 190 and [2009] 2 HKLRD 437, at paragraphs 9 and 41 of the judgment, in which it was held that sentencing of trafficking in cocaine was aligned to the guidelines for trafficking in heroin. The starting point for trafficking in 4,000 to 15,000 grammes (that is, 4 kilogrammes to 15 kilogrammes) of cocaine is 26 to 30 years’ imprisonment.

The defendant has pleaded guilty to trafficking in 4.18 kilogrammes of cocaine.

According to the above sentencing guidelines, the appropriate starting point should be no less than 26 years’ imprisonment.

For a serious crime such as this, the defendant’s personal and family circumstances are not considered as having any mitigating effect.

The defendant has written me a letter stating that he was responsible for supporting the household, including his grandmother and mother, who, unfortunately, has been suffering from cancer, and that was the reason for his trying to make money by committing the crime.

This, however, does not amount to any mitigation.

The defendant has a number of previous convictions, with two of possession of dangerous drugs and some other minor offences.

I am prepared to disregard that record as against him for sentencing purposes and adopt a starting point of 26 years’ imprisonment.

Despite the lack of other mitigating circumstances, the defendant is nonetheless entitled to a full one-third discount for his guilty plea.

In the result, he should go to jail for 17 years 4 months and this is the sentence that I pass.