HKSAR v. LAU KA YAN AND ANOTHER

DCCC286/2011

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 286 OF 2011

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  I will turn now to the sentencing of the 2nd defendant who has pleaded guilty to one offence of trafficking in a dangerous drug. He has accepted the facts put forward by the prosecution and I have convicted him of that offence.

2.  Briefly, the facts show that the offence occurred on the evening of 23 December 2010.  The defendant was the driver and owner of a private car which had sped away from the police when they tried to stop it.  On interception, the 1st defendant was found to be in possession of some drugs and it was her account that she had just bought those from the defendant for $90.  The drugs concerned were a small quantity, 0.69 grammes of ketamine. Both defendants were arrested.

3.  There was a search of the car and two further plastic bags were found containing drugs together with a large number of empty transparent plastic bags.  The defendant at the time of his arrest said that the powder and solid found in the plastic bags were for his own consumption.

4.  The 2nd defendant later was interviewed again and he admitted that he had sold the ketamine to the 1st defendant for $90, that all the drugs had been purchased on 22 December for $1,600, and he said he had bought them for his own consumption.  He had separated the ketamine into two bags, placed all the drugs in the front passenger footwell.  After he picked up D1 he had offered to sell her some ketamine.  The total of ketamine in D1’s possession that had been sold to her was 0.69 grammes.  The other drugs were found to contain 4.71 grammes of ketamine and 0.44 grammes of cocaine, and they were found in the front passenger footwell.

5.  The defendant has admitted his antecedents.  He is a 28-year-old man now of clear record, educated up to Form 3 level, working as a technician in motor vehicles and living with his mother and brother in Tuen Mun.  He was earning about $8,000 in his job, of which he gave half to his mother. 

6.  The defendant, as I say, he pleaded guilty, he has got a clear record, he has shown remorse today, and he is aware of the general guidelines given in relation to sentencing in respect of trafficking in dangerous drugs.  The defendant has accepted by his plea that the drugs that he had in the car were for the purpose of trafficking, although it may well be that a proportion of it was also to be used by himself for his own consumption.

7.  As far as the guidelines for sentence are concerned, the quantity of ketamine puts it in the range of between 2 to 4 years and the quantity of cocaine would put it in the sentencing range of 2 to 5 years, so an immediate sentence of imprisonment will be inevitable for the defendant in this case and I will adopt what I will describe as the combined approach.

8.  Taking all the factors I have elucidated, which is firstly the defendant’s age, he is 28 years old, the fact that he has been of clear record till now, that the defendant was trafficking in a small amount of cocaine and a slightly larger amount of ketamine, the starting point for sentence that I will adopt in relation to the charge which he faces is one of 30 months’ imprisonment.  I will reduce that to 20 months’ imprisonment for his plea of guilty, so the sentence will be one of 20 months’ imprisonment for the 2nd defendant.