THE QUEEN v. YUE CHAU

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL

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J U D G M E N T

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Fuad, J.A.:

1. Yue Chau, who is aged about 57, was convicted after a trial before Judge Cameron in the District Court, on 7 October 1907, of the offence of possessing dangerous drugs for the purpose of unlawful trafficking. The Charge Sheet mentioned 400 grammes of a mixture containing salts of esters of morphine and the Chemist's Report shows that the esters of morphine amounted to just over 42 grammes.

2. On 23 October, he was sentenced to six years' imprisonment and he now seeks leave to appeal against both the conviction and the sentence.

3. He has always admitted possession of the drugs but denied that he had them for the purpose of unlawful trafficking. When the room in which he lived was searched, the most telling piece of evidence against him was that in one of the polythene bags under his bed there were no less than 159 small empty polythene bags.

4. Due to the amount of the drugs that were found, it was for him to rebut the presumption that he had the drugs for the purpose of trafficking on the balance of probabilities. The learned judge heard the Applicant give evidence and he has repeated his defence in substance to us today. On the facts established and admitted by the Applicant, it is not surprising that the judge found the charge proved. Certainly, we have no reason to doubt the validity of the conviction.

5. As regards sentence, the Applicant had twelve previous convictions, ten of which related to drugs although he had not been previously convicted of possession for trafficking The sentence is well in line with the guidelines set out in the authorities.

6. For these reasons, we dismiss the applications for leave to appeal against conviction and sentence.