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HCCC 394/2015
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO 394 OF 2015
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HKSAR |
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TANG Ching-sum (鄧徴森) |
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| Date: |
3 March 2016 at 9.50 am |
| Present: |
Mr Martyn Richmond, on fiat, for HKSAR |
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Mr John C Dunn, instructed by Yung, Yu, Yuen &
Co, assigned by
DLA, for the accused |
| Offence: |
(1) & (2) Trafficking in a dangerous drug (販運危險藥物) |
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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case
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COURT: I have to sentence you for two counts of trafficking in
a dangerous drug. The drug in question was cocaine. You were
stopped having alighted from your car going to the premises you
rented carrying 365 grammes of it. In the premises, a converted
container, there was a small amount of drugs which is the subject of
Count 2, namely 1.41 grammes of cocaine along with packaging
equipment.
It would have been explained to you that sentencing for trafficking in dangerous drugs here is based upon guidelines which are in turn based upon the quantity of the drug and the nature of it. You fall in those guidelines in the category that runs from 200 grammes to 400 grammes attracting a sentence of 12 to 15 years’ imprisonment after trial. Your plea of guilty earns you a one-third discount.
I have read the letters that have been put before me and I have been impressed by them, and I have no quarrel at all with the sensible submissions made by your counsel to me in mitigation. I will accept his assertion that your role in this was to be a courier for modest amounts of cash. The sentencing in this respect is not just entirely mathematical and I have a discretion to reflect the role you played in the matter, along with the matters of mitigation that have been urged upon me.
Accordingly, I shall, in all of the circumstances of your case, take a starting point of 12 years, and with your one‑third discount that gives a sentence of 8 years’ imprisonment.
Giving all that I have been told about you, I judge that be to the right sentence in the circumstances. I do not think you could hope for a lesser one. That is the sentence on Count 1. On Count 2, the very small amount there, there will be a concurrent sentence of 16 months’ imprisonment.
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