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HCCC229/2008
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 229 OF 2008
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Before Hon Tong J
Date: 2 February 2009 at 10.53 am
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Present:
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Mr Cheng Hoi-chung Raymond, SPP of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR
Mr Tong Ming W M, instructed by George Chan & Co., for the Defendant
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Offence: Trafficking in a dangerous drug (販運危險藥物)
Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above case
COURT: The defendant has pleaded guilty to the offence of trafficking in dangerous drugs. The drug involved was about 57-odd grammes of cocaine. The defendant admitted the Summary of Facts which disclosed a case of stop and search and the police found drugs in the possession of the defendant. When he was arrested, the defendant said that he was carrying the drugs for someone for a mere $300.00 and that it was the first time he had done it.
The defendant had one previous conviction for which he was given probation. I am prepared to ignore that record for the purpose of the present sentence.
Counsel for the defendant has reminded the court that the defendant is a young man of 21 and that he has a supportive family. From the letters I received this morning, it does seem that the defendant has a caring and supportive family. Given the talent that the defendant has in painting and arts, he obviously has a good future. It is hard to understand why the defendant chose instead to get mixed up with bad elements and allow himself to be involved in taking drugs and, even worse, drug trafficking. But at least the defendant now has the courage to admit his wrongdoing and appears to be determined to turn a new leaf.
The sentencing guideline for this type of drugs can be found in the authority of Lau Tak Ming and for this amount of cocaine, the range would be from 8 to 12 years. In the present case, I am prepared to adopt a starting-point of 8 years. Although the guilty plea comes at a rather late stage, that is, just before the trial commences, I shall give the defendant the full one-third discount and that brings the sentence down to 5 years 4 months.
The defendant said under caution that it was the first time that he was trafficking drugs. In a way, this would be difficult to accept as it is quite unlikely that the defendant would be entrusted with such a large amount of drugs for the first delivery. But I really have no basis to say how many times the defendant has done it before, nor am I taking that as a factor in determining sentence.
On the other hand, from the letters of the family, I am given to understand that the defendant did have the habit of drug-taking and in this regard, although it was not specifically mentioned in mitigation that the drug was partly for the defendant's own use, I shall notionally take that into account.
Given all the circumstances, including the defendant's age, I shall reduce the sentence by a further 6 months. Hence, the sentence I pass shall be 4 years 10 months. I hope that the defendant will live up to his promise to his family as he has stated in his letter to the court. There is a lot of learning opportunities under the guidance of the Correctional Services. Now it is up to the defendant to show his family his determination to change for the better.
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