HKSAR v. LAU WAI HANG

 DCCC650/2010

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 650 OF 2010

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  Defendant, you pleaded guilty to an offence of trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance.

2.  You admitted that on 15 April 2010 at the male toilet near staircase No.7, 1st Floor, Tak Tin Commercial Centre, Tak Tin Estate, Kwun Tong, you unlawfully trafficked in a dangerous drug, namely 27.56 grammes of a powder containing 18.28 grammes of ketamine.

3.  On 15 April 2010 at about 3.55 pm, a team of police officers mounted an anti-dangerous drugs operation at Tak Tin Commercial Centre near the male toilet at staircase No.7. You were observed by the officers to go inside the toilet and after you looked around for a while, you entered one of the cubicles in the toilet and closed the door. When you came out of the toilet, you were intercepted by the police officers.

4.  A plastic bag containing 27.56 grammes of a powder containing 18.28 grammes of ketamine was found inside your right front trousers pocket. You told the officer that you just helped someone deliver the ketamine, it did not belong to you and you were to earn $200 for this delivery. You were to deliver it to another toilet in the same commercial centre.

5.  You said in your interview that you had committed this offence to settle your credit card debts.

6.  Mr Yiu, your solicitor, has made very full and thorough mitigation on your behalf and I have taken into account all that he has had to say for you.

7.  You are 22 years of age, single and have one previous conviction which involves 3 offences which are claiming to be a member of a triad society, common assault, criminal intimidation to which you were sentenced to detention centre in March 2004. You are in the youngest in your family. You have one sister and your parents are both here today.

8.  I am informed that in your youth you lacked the incentive to study and therefore after Form 1 you became an apprentice in cooking. Since 2007 you were promoted as a cook at Café de Coral, earning about $11,000 a month and remained working there.

9.  I am informed that you have very long working hours and you find your job dull. In order to relieve the working stress, you took entertainment with your peers at discos, karaokes and the like. As your friends were unemployed or school dropouts, you were the one who footed the bill. As a result of your generosity, you incurred large debts on your credit cards. And as a result of your poor management of money, your credit card debts then reached about $200,000 at the age of 20.

10.  You had to repay a large proportion of your income, some $7,500 a month, to repay your debts. Although after debt reconstruction, the monthly repayment was reduced to $4,600, you felt you still needed to earn more money. Therefore, in order to earn more money, you committed this offence to earn easy money. For each delivery, you would have earned $200 and you were told that in one day you could earn approximately $1,000.

11.  In your letter to me, you have stated that you have let many people down, including your parents, family and girlfriend. You do not want to live a criminal lifestyle and you would like to make a future from your profession when you are released. I do hope that you realize that is what you should do with your life.

12.  You are the minority of young defendants who commit offences of trafficking in dangerous drugs with a good profession or career. Most of them are like your peers, school dropouts or unemployed. So please take advantage of your expertise and I hope when you are released, you will stay clear of breaking the law and lead a law-abiding life. The benefits of being a chef or cook are enormous.

13.  As you know now, easy quick money is almost invariably illegal money. More often than not, when you earn quick, easy money, that is a sign or an alert that you are committing a criminal offence. You are not new to the criminal system in Hong Kong. Six years ago you were sentenced to detention centre. You know what it is like to be in custody. Although I accept when you were released from detention centre, you got on with your life and became a cook. You were soon however led astray again and committed this very, very serious offence.

14.  As your solicitor rightly says, the Court of Appeal has laid down a tariff for trafficking in ketamine in Hii Siew Cheng and you fall within the third bracket of trafficking in 10 to 50 grammes, a sentence of 4 to 6 years’ imprisonment is warranted after trial.

15.  Defendant, you were caught red-handed by the police. You frankly confessed to the police. You entered a timely plea of guilty and you saved the court’s time and public money. I will give you full credit for your plea of guilty. Had I convicted you after trial, I would have taken a starting point of 4 years’ imprisonment. However, given your plea of guilty and giving you full credit for your plea, that sentence shall be reduced to 2 years and 8 months’ imprisonment to which you are so sentenced.