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HCCC50/2009
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 50 OF 2009
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Before: Deputy High Court Judge Mackintosh
Date: 31 March 2009 at 9.54 am
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Present:
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Mr Vincent Wong, SPP of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR
Mr Bernard Yuen, assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the Accused
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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: Chu Pak-cheung, stand up, please.
You have pleaded guilty before the magistrates on 13 February to trafficking in dangerous drugs, that is a quantity of ketamine 346 grammes contained in a larger amount of powder. It had a street value of somewhere around $50,000. You said that you were delivering it for somebody else for $500. That is the basis of sentencing you for this offence of trafficking. There is no evidence that the drugs were brought into Hong Kong by you, which would have been an aggravation.
I have no doubt you have been told that sentencing for trafficking in dangerous drugs is based always upon guidelines laid down by the Court of Appeal. Following those guidelines, sentences are calculated according to the quantity of dangerous drugs being trafficked, that is in your case the 340-odd grammes of ketamine. The reason for that, I must explain, is that there are many cases of drug trafficking which come before the courts, with many different offenders of many different backgrounds. But it is essential that all those different offenders are sentenced in some consistent and fair way which ensures that sentence eventually imposed upon them is based upon the same criteria in every case. That is why a sentencing court such as this must follow those guidelines.
Insofar as ketamine is concerned, because of the serious problem that exists in Hong Kong with the misuse of ketamine, in June of 2008 the Court of Appeal set new guidelines for sentence, and those guidelines apply in your case. As I am sure you have been told, you fall within the category of sentencing for 300 to 600 grammes of ketamine, for which the Court of Appeal has laid down that sentences of 9 to 12 years' imprisonment after trial - that is before discount for mitigation - should be imposed.
I recognise, as has been emphasised on your behalf by Mr Yuen, the fact that you are a young man, only just 19 today and 18 at the time you committed this offence. You have a clear record. All the material before me today, including this raft of letters of support, and the presence of these people in court today - because there are a lot of them - show me that you are not a wicked young man, but you are a very seriously misguided young man.
It is a tragedy recognised by all these people here in court today that you have become involved in the commission of a serious crime such as this. It's clear from what's been said that you were a young man who was drifting at the time. You had not got into your new course at the time you committed this offence. You were an easy target for the cynical and evil drug traffickers who are always ready to exploit a naïve young man such as you. Of course, from your point of view it must have seemed to be easy money just to deliver a package.
No one could fail to be moved by the expressions of support that there are in these letters, sincerely expressed by all the people who have signed them and many of whom who are here today. But, of course, as I have already indicated to Mr Yuen on your behalf, I cannot treat you as somebody who is extremely young, a very young teenager, where sometimes the courts can take a different approach because you were 18.
I can and will discount the sentence to reflect the mitigation that you have available to you, which starts, of course, with your plea of guilty at the earliest opportunity, your genuine remorse and your previous good character. But the discount that I give to you cannot exceed one-third from the starting point which I must take. I hope that the support that's been expressed for you today in these various materials that have been placed before me continues throughout the time that you are in custody and that you come out stronger and better able to resist the sort of temptation that was placed in front of you in this case.
Even with the discount that I can take from the starting point, the sentence is still a heavy sentence; I recognise that, but I am satisfied that I have no alternative but to impose such a heavy sentence. I must in this case take a starting point for sentence of 9 years' imprisonment, and I reduce it to 6 years to reflect the mitigation to which I have referred.
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