COURT: Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to two charges, the first being an offence of trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Chapter 134, Laws of Hong Kong. The particulars being that on 6 November of last year, you unlawfully trafficked in 12.88 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride.
In relation to the 2nd charge, you have pleaded guilty to the alternative charge of possession of dangerous drugs which the prosecution have accepted. The drugs being the subject matter of this charge amount to 8.34 grammes of "Ice".
The Summary of Facts, which you have agreed, indicate that you were stopped and searched on the day in question outside Kwai Wo Building in Kwai Chung where the drugs being the subject matter of Charge 1 were found inside your left front trouser pocket. You told the police that these drugs had been taken from your home to be given to someone.
You were taken back to your residence in Kwai Wo Building where the drugs being the subject matter of the 2nd charge were discovered, together with related paraphernalia for consumption of the "Ice".
You are 42 years of age now. You have three prior convictions, one for possession of dangerous drugs in 2011, but this is your first offence for trafficking in dangerous drugs.
Your counsel is right; the most significant mitigating factor in your case, indeed the only mitigating factor, is your plea of guilty to these charges and I will give you the appropriate discount in sentence to reflect this.
With regard to trafficking in "Ice", the relevant sentencing guidelines can be found in Attorney General v Ching Kwok Hung [1991] 2 HKLR 125. For trafficking in 10 to 70 grammes, the normal starting point ranges between 7 to 10 years’ imprisonment.
In this case, the court is dealing with 12.88 grammes of narcotic insofar as Charge 1 is concerned. Accordingly, I adopt 7 years and 3 months as my starting point in relation to Charge 1. I will discount this by one-third to reflect your plea of guilty to the charge, coming to 4 years and 10 months’ imprisonment in relation to Charge 1.
With regard to Charge 2, I adopt a starting point of 12 months’ imprisonment but once again will reduce that by one-third to reflect your plea, coming to 8 months’ imprisonment, 6 months of which I order to run consecutively to the sentence on Charge 1 due to the question of totality, arriving at a total sentence of 5 years and 4 months’ imprisonment in all.