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HCCC281/2008
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 281 OF 2008
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HKSAR |
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CHAU KING WAH JONE |
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Before Deputy High Court Judge D Pang
Date: 21 January 2009 at 10.03 am
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Present:
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Ms Leung Sun-yee, Rosaline, SPP of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR
Mr Maurice Peter Tracy, assigned by the Legal Aid Department, for the Accused
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Offence: Trafficking in a dangerous drug (販運危險藥物)
Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above case
COURT: The defendant has pleaded guilty before a magistrate to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, namely 999.03 grammes of a powder containing 823.08 grammes of ketamine. He appears before me for sentencing.
The facts of the case are simple. The defendant was intercepted at Lo Wu Control Point and found to be in possession of the drug in question. Under caution he admitted full knowledge of what he was carrying, and claimed to be smuggling it into Hong Kong from the mainland for someone else.
Born locally, the defendant is aged 48. He has only had up to Lower Secondary level education. At the time of the offence he was a part-time packaging worker commuting between Sheung Shui and Shenzhen.
He has three previous convictions consisting of a total of nine charges, two of which are for simple possession.
In mitigation very little has been said that can really assist the defendant, who, it is said, committed the present offence because of financial pressure.
The date of the present offence being 14 July 2008, the new guideline applies. For the actual quantity of ketamine involved, I will adopt a starting point of 13 years, and that is disregarding the fact that this is a case of cross-border trafficking which some may see as a proper justification for a higher base line.
Anyway, I will adopt 13 years, and in view of the guilty plea there will be a one-third discount, bringing it down to 8 years and 8 months, but that is all the discount that the defendant is entitled to get.
You will go to prison for 8 years and 8 months.
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