HKSAR v. WONG KA WO

 DCCC16/2009

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 16 OF 2009

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  The defendant has been convicted on his plea of one charge of trafficking in dangerous drugs, namely 7.18 grammes of a powder containing 6.12 grammes of Ketamine on 24 October last year.

2.  He was a passenger in a motor vehicle which was stopped in the early hours of the morning at a police roadblock.  As the vehicle approached the roadblock, the defendant was seen bending down for a short time in the vehicle. 

3.  Upon being searched, the drugs in question were found in three resealable plastic bags inside the defendant’s right sock. 

4.  He admitted under caution after he was arrested that he had bought Ketamine with the intention of giving it to his friends later.

5.  The defendant is 23 years of age.  He has a record, including one previous conviction in 2002 for simple possession of dangerous drugs for which he was given a Probation Order.  The last of his previous convictions occurred in December 2003, I note, and none of them involved the imposition of sentences of imprisonment. 

6.  I am sure the defendant must be aware that the courts in Hong Kong take a very serious view of the offence of trafficking in dangerous drugs. 

7.  The Court of Appeal has suggested guidelines for sentencing in these cases, which are not intended to be a straitjacket on a sentencing court but should only be departed from for good reason.

8.  The updated guidelines for sentencing for trafficking in Ketamine and Ecstasy are set out in Secretary for Justice v Hii Siew Cheng [2008] HKC.  The relevant sentencing band for present purposes suggests that for over 1 gramme to 10 grammes of Ketamine narcotic a sentence of 2 to 4 years’ imprisonment after trial would normally be appropriate.    

9.  The quantity of narcotic which the defendant was trafficking in the present case being 6.12 grammes of Ketamine, I have adopted a starting point of 3 years’ imprisonment after trial. 

10.  For his plea of guilty and co-operation with the authorities, the defendant is entitled to the full one-third discount normally afforded, which discounts the starting point to 2 years’ imprisonment.

11.  I can see no reason on all the facts of this case to discount that any further, so 2 years’ imprisonment is the sentence that I impose upon him.