|
DCCC 1079/2012
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
CRIMINAL CASE NO 1079 OF 2012
----------------------
| |
HKSAR |
|
| |
v |
|
| |
Lai Yat-bing |
|
| ---------------------- |
| Date: |
31 December 2012 at 10.17 am |
| Present: |
Ms Kasmine Hui, PP, of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR
Mr Kam Yee-wai Andrew, of Kam & Fan, assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the defendant |
| Offence: |
Trafficking in a dangerous drug (販運危險藥物) |
---------------------
Reasons for Sentence
---------------------
1. The defendant has pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking in 8.05 grammes of heroin hydrochloride.
2. At 1750 hours on 21 August 2012, officers were conducting an anti-narcotics operation in the vicinity of the Yau Ma Tei Jockey Club Clinic in Battery Street, Yau Ma Tei. The defendant was observed by the officers heading towards the clinic and behaving in a suspicious fashion.
3. He was stopped and searched and in his left front pocket of his trousers the officers found the drugs the subject of the charge. The drugs were packed in 120 packets of heroin which were inside three transparent resealable plastic bags.
4. The defendant was in possession of HK$98 and a mobile phone.
5. He initially claimed that the drugs were for his own consumption. He said he bought them from an unknown male in Kowloon Tong for $5,000. He said he had been unemployed for about 10 to 20 years and was relying on Comprehensive Social Security Allowance payments.
6. The street value of the heroin seized was just under $21,500.
7. The defendant has appeared before the court on 26 previous occasions involving 29 offences. Eleven of those offences related to dangerous drugs offences and two of them were for trafficking. Those offences were committed in 2003 and 2005. His last conviction was in June 2011 for publishing an obscene article and possession of an obscene article. He was imprisoned for a period of 8 months.
8. In mitigation I was told that the defendant used to be a drug addict, and it was pointed out his last conviction for a drugs offence was in 2005. The defendant is 52 years of age and has only completed Primary 6 education. He is divorced from his wife and there are no children of the family. His wife has returned to the Mainland. His parents are in their 80s but live in Hong Kong apart from the defendant. I am told that he was last employed in the 1990s. His Social Security Allowance payments come to $3,300 per month. I was told that he was motivated because of financial reasons to commit the offence as he had difficulty finding a job because of his age and record.
9. The only mitigation in this case is that he has pleaded guilty today.
10. Trafficking in this quantity of drugs attracts a prison sentence of between 2 to 5 years.
11. I have considered whether or not the starting point should be increased because of the number of drug convictions that he has. However, I note his last trafficking conviction was in 2005.
12. I have decided to take a starting point in this case of 4 years’ imprisonment and reduce that by one-third to reflect his guilty plea.
13. The defendant will therefore go to prison for 32 months.
|