HKSAR v. LI FUK KEUNG

HCCC31/2009

 IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 31 OF 2009

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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above case

COURT:  Li Fuk-keung, stand up, please.

Li Fuk-keung, I have listened very carefully to all that Mr Mayne has said on your behalf, and he said all that can be said in respect of you.  I have also read the two reports which I ordered, I have also read your mother’s letter and your own letter to the court.  

I can accept that your problems came from a lack of adequate parental control when you were young.  It seems from what I have been told and from what I have read that your mother loves you and is supportive of you.  You are going to need your mother’s support. 

What you did was very wrong and it was very foolish.  Drug trafficking, particularly in heavy drugs - and ketamine is regarded as a heavy drug - is a very very serious criminal offence.  It is so serious that the legislature has set the maximum penalty at life imprisonment.

I know that Mr Mayne will have told you that the Court of Appeal have set guidelines for all judges as to how we are to sentence people who traffic in dangerous drugs, including ketamine. 

He will also have told you that we are expected to stick to those guidelines unless there are very exceptional circumstances not to do so, and I regret I have to tell you that there are no such exceptional circumstances in your case.

Your age 18 can only go a very small way in mitigating your offence.  The law and the courts regard young men of 18 as adults.  And as adults they are responsible for their actions.  Clearly, from what I have been told, you had a plan for what you were going to do with this vast quantity of ketamine. 

You trafficked in a very large quantity of ketamine, over 1 kilogram of the stuff.  Your offence is just too serious for me to contemplate making you the subject of a detention centre order or a training centre order. 

The fact that you are of hitherto clear record counts for very little in drug trafficking cases.  Your only real mitigation is, as Mr Mayne said, your early plea of guilty in the magistrates’ court.  That indicates remorse, and I accept that you are remorseful.  But, perhaps more importantly, it shows realism on your part and acceptance of the inevitable.  By pleading guilty you have earned yourself a very substantial discount on the sentence you would have received after trial. 

Following the guidelines I have spoken of - and they were revised by the Court of Appeal in June of last year, three months before you committed your offence - after trial, had you pleaded not guilty, had you been found guilty by a jury, you would have been looking at a sentence of at least 14 years’ imprisonment, possibly more.  I am taking 14 years as the starting point from which I decide your sentence.  Because of your plea of guilty and your cooperation you are entitled to a one-third reduction in that 14 years, which takes it down to 9 years and 8 months.  I am reducing your sentence by a further 8 months to take account of your age and the fact that until now you had no criminal record. 

I take no pleasure in sentencing young men for any offence, but it is my duty to tell you that your sentence of imprisonment is one of 9 years’ imprisonment.

 (Proceedings after sentence not required)

 Court adjourns - 10.38 am

 Court resumes - 10.49 am

Accused present.  Appearances as before.

(Proceedings to sentence correction not required)    

COURT:  Stand up again, please.

I owe you an apology.  I made a miscalculation.  Your sentence, as I said, would have been a starting point of 14 years.  The one-third discount for your plea of guilty takes it down to 9 years and 4 months.  I incorrectly said 9 years and 8 months.

As I reduced that sentence by a further 8 months for your young age and your clear record, I am now making it clear that your sentence is one of 8 years and 8 months.