HKSAR v. VIRGINIA PENARANDA BORRAS

HCCC287/2008

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 287 OF 2008

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

COURT:  Virginia Borras, stand up.

You must be aware that trafficking in any dangerous drug in any country in the world, and indeed between different countries in the world, is a very, very serious offence.

You will have been told by Mr Mackay that in Hong Kong, very heavy prison sentences are passed on people who in any way engage in this filthy trade.  It is regarded in Hong Kong as so serious that the maximum penalty is life imprisonment.  In some countries in Asia, the maximum penalty is death.

Mr Mackay will have told you that there are very clear guidelines laid down for all judges by the Court of Appeal in Hong Kong as to the sentences we must pass on people who engage in drug trafficking.  He will have told you - I am quite sure of this - that judges are expected to stick to those guidelines unless there are very strong reasons for them not to do so.  I have to tell you that in your case, there are no very strong reasons that permit me to depart from those guidelines. 

I am aware that you say that in Kuala Lumpur you were threatened by a man you call “a black man” and bullied, you say, into taking these drugs to Hong Kong.  I have to regard that story with a certain degree of caution.  I have to bear in mind that it is very easy for people to make up stories like that, and it is almost impossible for the prosecuting authorities to in any way disprove the truth of them.

Clearly, you must have met somebody in Kuala Lumpur who persuaded you, in some way, to bring these drugs to Hong Kong.  And who persuaded you to swallow them and hide them in your private parts.  However, as I said, I have to be very careful when I come to consider the circumstances under which you were persuaded.

I note that you are of a clear record.  You have never been in trouble with the police or the courts either in Hong Kong or, as far as is known, in any other country.  Frankly, for those who engage in drug trafficking, a previous clear record counts for very little.

What does help you to some extent is the fact that you have given the Hong Kong authorities some background information which may be of use to them in the future.  But I have to bear in mind that is only background information you have been able to give them.

Your most powerful mitigation is the fact that you pleaded guilty and have been co-operative with the Hong Kong authorities.  As Mr Mackay will have told you, you are entitled to a substantial discount in the sentence that you would have received had you been convicted of trafficking in dangerous drugs after trial.

For the quantity of dangerous drugs that you trafficked in - there was a mixture weighing 539.31 grammes which had 311.11 grammes of heroin in it - after trial, had you pleaded not guilty, had the matter gone to trial, had a jury found you guilty, then you could have been looking at a sentence as high as 15 years' imprisonment.

I am taking the view in your case, that had you been found guilty by a jury, taking into account what very little I know of you, taking into account your story of what you say happened in Kuala Lumpur, taking account of the fact that since conviction you have been co-operative with the police, an after-trial sentence of 13 years' imprisonment would have been appropriate.

Because of your plea of guilty, I am permitted to reduce that considerably.  I am reducing it by one-third.  Your sentence of imprisonment for this offence is one of 8 years and 8 months' imprisonment.

You will be told when you get to prison how that sentence is to be served and how it is worked out, and what your earliest release date under Hong Kong law can be.