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DCCC1150/2008
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 1150 OF 2008
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Before: H H Judge Browne
Date: 19 March 2009 at 11.00 am
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Present:
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Mr Stephen Fong, Counsel on Fiat, for HKSAR
Mr Chong Chun-sang, Matthew, instructed by Messrs Ivan Tang & Co., assigned by the Legal Aid Department, for the Defendant
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Offence: Trafficking in a dangerous drug (販運危險藥物)
Reasons for Sentence
1. The defendant has pleaded guilty to an offence of trafficking in dangerous drugs.
2. The particulars of the offence are that on 6 September 2008 at Fu Tai Estate in Tuen Mun, he unlawfully trafficked in 36.90 grammes of ketamine. The facts admitted by the defendant disclose that shortly after midnight on 6 September officers stopped the private vehicle that he was driving. The drugs, the subject of the charge, were found in a shoulder bag which the defendant was carrying.
3. When arrested and cautioned the defendant claimed that the ketamine was for his own consumption only. He told the officers that he was a casual transportation worker with an unstable income.
4. I am told that the market value of the ketamine is in the region of $8,000. I am also told that the vehicle, the private vehicle which the defendant was driving at the time of the offence was his own.
5. The defendant has two previous convictions recorded on his record. He appeared in October and December of 2001 for offences of theft, and at that time the defendant was 15 years of age. He stayed out of trouble since then.
6. In mitigation I am told that the defendant is 23 and that he is recently married. Sadly, he comes from a broken family, his father having left the matrimonial home 12 years ago. At that time the defendant was studying in primary 5. He has two sisters, one is a year younger than the defendant and the other is only 12. I am told that his younger sister has problems with hyperactivity and is under medication for that condition. His other sister works as a clerk. His mother works part-time but is suffering from depression.
7. I am told that prior to this arrest, the defendant worked as a lorry driver earning $11,500 per month. I am told that he got married in August 2008, a very short time before the commission of this offence. I am told that at the time of the offence the defendant was living with his wife and family all in one home and that he was the main breadwinner. I am told that within the family he was regarded as a responsible son and contributed to the economy of the family.
8. As the defendant now knows, the tariffs for offences of this kind are between 4 to 6 years’ imprisonment and that is for trafficking in quantities of drugs between 10 and 50 grammes. The amount of ketamine in this case is 36.90 grammes. The only mitigation in the case is the defendant’s guilty plea. The starting point for this quantity of drugs is in the region of 5 years’ imprisonment.
9. I give the defendant credit for his guilty plea and I will reduce that sentence by one-third. The defendant will therefore go to prison for 40 years, that is 3 years and 4 months.
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