HKSAR v. REHAN MARIAM ABDALLA

HCCC240/2008

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 240 OF 2008

-------------------

----------------------

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

COURT:  Stand up, please.  I have to sentence you for trafficking in a dangerous drug. 

The drug in question was heroin.  You had very nearly a kilogram of it.  The exact amount is 981.73 grammes.  You would have been told before this trial that the sentence in cases like this depends upon guidelines and that you fall in a bracket that has to be in excess of 20 years.  The starting-point I shall take in your case is one of 21 years but I am bound to enhance that to reflect the element of bringing the drugs across an international border, and I do so by taking the starting-point figure up to one of 22½ years' imprisonment. 

You are a mature lady.  You knew the risks you faced when you did this and you cannot have been blind to the misery that drug addiction causes. 

It is a long sentence but pause and consider this, that I have no doubt these drugs were destined for the Mainland, and if you had been caught with them there or if you had been caught on the way, in Malaysia, you would not have faced imprisonment; you would have faced the death penalty.

The sentence is one of 22½ years' imprisonment.