|
HCCC 279/2012
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO 279 OF 2012
-------------------
| |
HKSAR |
|
| |
v |
|
| |
Chan Jing |
|
| ------------------- |
| Date: |
4 March 2013 at 9.57 am |
| Present: |
Mr James McGowan, on fiat, for HKSAR |
| |
Ms Amanda W M Li, instructed by Pang, Wan & Choi, assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the accused |
| 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: Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap.134, Laws of Hong Kong, the particulars being that you on 11 March of last year outside No. 11 Hoi Fan Road, Tai Kok Tsui, Kowloon, unlawfully trafficked in 0.86 kilograms of a powder containing 0.18 kilograms of ketamine.
The Summary of Facts which you have admitted are straightforward and establish that at the time and date mentioned in the charge you were spotted by police wandering around holding a brown paper bag in your hand. You were intercepted and searched, and from inside the brown paper bag a resealable plastic bag containing the drugs being the subject matter of the charge were found.
You later on told the police that you had earlier met an unknown male who asked you to help him deliver the drugs.
You are still very young, only 17½ years of age, though 16½ at the time of the commission of the offence. You have a clear criminal record.
It is a shame to see a young person before the court such as yourself having committed a serious offence such as the present one. I sincerely hope that this has been a salutary lesson for you and that there will be no repetition.
I have been touched by the letters of support that your counsel has referred me to, but the reality is that there is very little mitigation here save for your plea of guilty, which is an indication of your remorse and which will be reflected in the sentence that I have to pass on you.
The guidelines for sentencing in cases of trafficking in ketamine can be found in the case of Secretary for Justice v Hii Siew Cheng [2008] HKCA 200, and for trafficking in amounts of between 50 to 300 grammes of narcotic the normal starting point after trial is a sentence of between 6 to 9 years’ imprisonment.
In this case the court is dealing with 180 grammes of narcotic. Accordingly, I will adopt a starting point of 7 years’ imprisonment.
I will give you the full one-third discount in sentence to reflect your plea of guilty, arriving at a sentence of 4 years and 8 months’ imprisonment.
|