Mr Caesar Lo Chi-lam, assigned by the Director of Legal Aid
HCCC 83/2009
HCCC83/2009
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 83 OF 2009
----------------------
HKSAR
v
LEE YU-CHUNG
Before
Hon McMahon J
Date:
23 April 2009 at 10.23 am
Present:
Ms Rosaline Leung, SPP of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR Mr Caesar Lo Chi-lam, assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the Accused
Offence:
Trafficking in dangerous drugs (販運危險藥物)
Transcript of the Audio Recording of the Sentence in the above case
COURT: The defendant has been committed to this court for sentence pursuant to the provisions of section 81B of the Magistrates Ordinance for an offence of trafficking in 1880.16 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, that is Ice.
The facts of the case are that the defendant brought the drugs into Hong Kong on 5 October 2008 on a flight from Bombay. He intended to transfer to a flight to Manila, but the drugs which were concealed in his luggage were detected by Customs officers. Part of the drugs were found in a video projector inside the defendant’s suitcase, and the balance of the drugs were hidden in the lining of the suitcase. The defendant was arrested and subsequently admitted he was to deliver the drugs to a person in Manila for a reward of Taiwanese $30,000 to $50,000. Given the quantity of drug involved and considering the guidelines set out in Attorney General v Ching Kwong Hung [1991] 2 HKLR at 125, I take an initial starting point of sentence of 21 years’ imprisonment. I take into account the international dimension of the offence and enhance that starting point of sentence by a further 1 years’ imprisonment. That results in a final starting point of sentence of 22 years’ imprisonment. The defendant puts forward in his mitigation his economic and family circumstances, but neither can amount to mitigation. He does, however, get full credit for his plea of guilty, and the starting point of sentence is reduced to a sentence of 14 years 8 months’ imprisonment.
The facts of the case are that the defendant brought the drugs into Hong Kong on 5 October 2008 on a flight from Bombay. He intended to transfer to a flight to Manila, but the drugs which were concealed in his luggage were detected by Customs officers. Part of the drugs were found in a video projector inside the defendant’s suitcase, and the balance of the drugs were hidden in the lining of the suitcase.
The defendant was arrested and subsequently admitted he was to deliver the drugs to a person in Manila for a reward of Taiwanese $30,000 to $50,000.
Given the quantity of drug involved and considering the guidelines set out in Attorney General v Ching Kwong Hung [1991] 2 HKLR at 125, I take an initial starting point of sentence of 21 years’ imprisonment. I take into account the international dimension of the offence and enhance that starting point of sentence by a further 1 years’ imprisonment. That results in a final starting point of sentence of 22 years’ imprisonment.
The defendant puts forward in his mitigation his economic and family circumstances, but neither can amount to mitigation. He does, however, get full credit for his plea of guilty, and the starting point of sentence is reduced to a sentence of 14 years 8 months’ imprisonment.