COURT: The 49-year-old defendant pleaded guilty in Eastern Magistracy to two charges of trafficking in dangerous drugs and was committed to this court for sentence pursuant to section 81B of the Magistrates Ordinance, Chapter 227.
The 1st charge related to his trafficking in 84.89 grammes of ketamine and 2.06 grammes of cocaine. The 2nd charge involved trafficking in 289.44 grammes of ketamine and 10.05 grammes of cocaine.
The facts of the case were not unusual. The defendant, on the relevant date, was seen leaving premises in Sau Mau Ping Estate in Kowloon by a team of police on an anti-drug operation. They intercepted and searched him. In the defendant’s waist bag were found the drugs particularised in the 1st charge. Following that, he was taken back to the premises and the drugs the subject of the 2nd charge were found. The defendant admitted at an early stage that all the drugs on his person and those in his premises belonged to him.
So far as the 1st charge is concerned, I approach sentencing on the basis that the primary drug in the mixture found on the defendant’s person was the ketamine and, taking into account the nature and quantities of the drugs found, adopt a starting point of sentence of 7 years’ imprisonment.
The only mitigation of substance available to the defendant is his plea of guilty and that starting point is reduced on that basis to a sentence of 4 years and 8 months’ imprisonment.
So far as the second charged offence is concerned, on the same basis, I adopt a starting point of sentence of 9 years’ imprisonment. Again, the only mitigation is the defendant’s plea of guilty and that starting point of sentence is reduced to one of 6 years’ imprisonment.
In considering the totality of sentence, I take into account the totality of drugs and order that 2 years 8 months of the sentences be served concurrently and the balance of the sentences be served consecutively. That results in a totality of sentence of 8 years’ imprisonment.