THE QUEEN v. HO KWONG-WAH

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL

1995, No. 603
(Criminal)

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J U D G M E N T

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Mortimer JA (giving the judgment of the Court) :

1. On 14 August 1995 the applicant was convicted before Deputy Judge Pang and a jury of trafficking in 404.69 grams of methylamphetamine hydrochloride, usually known as 'ice'. He was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. He seeks leave first to appeal against his conviction.

The facts

2. The applicant and another man were in the street in Mongkok. They were hurrying and looking about them. The applicant had a plastic bag. Inside were two tin foil packets containing the drug. Two police officers stopped the applicant and the other man, took the bag and looked inside. At that point, the applicant and the other man turned and ran away. The other man made good his escape but the applicant was caught. After a struggle in which he received some injuries, he was arrested.

At trial

3. His defence at trial on which he gave evidence was that he had nothing to do with the drugs. He was alone in the street when a man rushed past him, followed by the two police officers who knocked him down, arrested him and took him away to the police station. He only discovered that he was being held in a drugs case the next day in hospital.

Conclusion

4. It suffices to say that the jury were properly directed upon the law. The issues of fact were properly left for their consideration and decision. There is no merit in this application which is refused.

The applicant's application for leave to appeal against sentence

5. This was a serious case of trafficking involving a large quantity of the drug. The sentence which was passed was exactly in accordance with the guidelines laid down by this Court. There was no reason here for departing from those guidelines although the applicant seeks leave of this Court to advance the fact that he has an elderly mother. This is not a matter which the court can take into account. No doubt sentences passed by our courts bear heavily upon families.

6. There is no merit in the application and it is refused.