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HCCC 200/2013
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO 200 OF 2013
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HKSAR |
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Chan Hei-kam |
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| Before: |
Deputy High Court Judge Stuart-Moore |
| Date: |
25 July 2013 at 9.47 am |
| Present: |
Mr Harish Melwaney, SPP, of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR |
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Mr Selwyn So, assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the defendant |
| 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: The defendant, aged 50, has today confirmed the plea of guilty that he entered at the magistrates court on 10 May this year to the charge of trafficking in a crystalline solid containing 80.98 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride which I will refer to as “Ice”. The street value of these drugs was $59,840.
In short, the defendant had been unemployed for many years it is said and at the time of this offence was in receipt of $1,900 in CSSA payments. He told the police that he was tempted into trafficking by a friend he called Ah Pan who offered to pay him $500 if he would take the drugs to Lok Kwan Street Park where he would be met by someone. Well, he was looking for this person when the police intercepted him and found the “Ice”.
This offence was on 4 December 2012, which was just seven months after his release from a 5 year and 4 months’ sentence for trafficking in dangerous drugs. All told, he has seven previous convictions for trafficking in dangerous drugs and at least six other convictions for possession or closely related drug offences.
The defendant, since the year 1991, has more or less continuously been in trouble and in recent years has been in and out of prison all the time. In fact, prior to the sentence I have referred to already and for which he was just released when this offence occurred, he had previously served a 6 year sentence for trafficking.
The sentencing band for this quantity of “Ice” falls between 70 and 300 grammes for which the guidelines in AG v Ching Kwok Hung [1991] 2 HKLR 125 provide a sentence, as Mr So correctly said, of between 10 and 14 years imprisonment. I would normally, under the guidelines, have taken a starting point of 10 years imprisonment, which would have been appropriate after trial, however the defendant’s record is truly appalling in regard to trafficking, so much so that it in itself provides an aggravating factor. So I propose to increase the starting point by a year, to 11 years.
Mr Chan, would you stand please. You will receive full credit for your plea of guilty.
Your sentence is one of 7 years and 4 months imprisonment.
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