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HCCC339/2009
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 339 OF 2009
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HKSAR |
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Okekeh Anna Cherechi Luzviminda Cal |
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| Date: |
8 January 2010 at 9.50 am |
| Present: |
Mr P J Power, Senior Public Prosecutor of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR
Mr Arthur Michael John Bruce, instructed by Messrs Littlewoods, assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the Accused |
| Offence: |
Trafficking in a dangerous drug(販運危險藥物) |
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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case
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COURT: You are an intelligent young woman, and I know therefore you will understand what has been explained to you as to the sort of sentence you face. You will know about the guidelines and how they are based upon the nature and quantity of the drug in question.
You were stopped at our airport, having ingested about 26 condoms filled with cocaine. The amount you carried was 256½ grammes.
After trial, the starting point must fall between 12 and 15 years, and in finding the right place within that bracket, it has to be remembered that you were importing the drug, which is an aggravation.
I know Mr Arthur will have explained to you the limited weight I can give to the pleas for mercy made by your family, and your personal circumstances, but they are not to be ignored completely.
You were at university, due to graduate in psychology this year. There is a proposal for a Master’s thesis. It is sad to see someone like you in the dock, but on the other hand, with your intelligence, you must have well appreciated the mischief of trafficking in dangerous drugs.
I will act on the basis of the picture painted by the material Mr Arthur has given me, that other than this, you were a respectable young lady who was going to be an achiever, and that your respectable family are bewildered by your conduct.
You will appreciate in truth I have little discretion when it comes to passing the sentence, and I am left debating something as small as a difference in the starting point of 12 or 12½ years, maybe 13 years; it is in that bracket. Giving weight to the matters that I have already adverted to that have been put before me by Mr Arthur, as a matter of mercy, I will take the lower end of the bracket.
I shall take a starting point of 12 years, and impose a sentence of 8 years’ imprisonment.
In my judgment, you could have hoped for no more mercy to be shown, and the sentence, whilst designed to be merciful, is one that still honours the guidelines, and sends the message to the public as to what happens to drug traffickers here.
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