HKSAR v. Ho Ching Man, Faye

DCCC 466/2015

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO 466 OF 2015

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.The defendant has pleaded guilty today to one charge of trafficking in dangerous drugs, contrary to section 4 of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134.

2.The facts are very straightforward.  The police following up on an investigation went to the defendant’s home.  She was stopped as she returned home and on the doorstep.  She was taken inside her premises and her handbag was searched.  In her handbag, the police officers found 117 small plastic resealable transparent bags with cocaine in them.  The purity of cocaine is 13.94 grammes.  They also found a bag containing 3.94 grammes of heroin hydrochloride, another bag containing three pellets of 0.99 grammes of heroin hydrochloride.  In addition, there was another bag with 0.24 grammes of herbal cannabis.

3.The defendant claimed to the police officers that she had bought all the drugs for her own consumption.

4.The street value of all the drugs is agreed at $34,775. 

5.The defendant is not a woman with a clear record.  She has seven previous convictions.  They include a possession of dangerous drugs in 1998 and a trafficking-in-dangerous-drugs conviction in 2011.  She was remanded in custody after she was arrested.  An assault case arose whilst she was in remand, and she has subsequently been sentenced to 8 months’ imprisonment by Fanling Magistracy for assault occasioning actual bodily harm whilst in the remand centre.

6.The defendant’s plea today is her best mitigation.  The defendant is 35 years old, single and a part-time waitress. Her mother and younger sister are in court to support her today.  I have had a letter of mitigation from the defendant where she says she will spend the time serving this sentence studying to try and better herself.  She has also joined a Bible group and realises that if she does not turn her life around now, she will spend most of her life in and out of prison.  She is sad she has disappointed her mother and family.  She has made a promise to her mother to turn over a new leaf. 

7.The defendant in court now frankly admits she was in possession of the cocaine as a courier, and her payment or reward for carrying the cocaine from A to B was the heroin.  The defence submits she is a heroin addict.  What supports this is her previous conviction for possession of dangerous drugs and a urine report which shows that when she was remanded after this arrest, she had opiates in her system.  The prosecution did not challenge the defendant’s mitigation that the heroin was for her own consumption.  The packaging seems to also support this submission.

8.The sentencing guidelines for trafficking heroin and cocaine come from the authority R v Lau Tak Ming & Others [1990] 2 HKLR 370.  The Court of Appeal there says where between 0 to 10 grammes of heroin or cocaine is trafficked, an appropriate starting point would be between 2 to 5 years.  Where between 10 to 50 grammes is trafficked, an appropriate starting point would be between 5 to 8 years.

9.I will take into account and I do accept the mitigation that the cocaine was for trafficking and the heroin for her own use.  If, as I am told, the defendant takes 1 gramme per day, this quantity of heroin would only last her a few days.  The amount of cannabis is minimal, and I will not take that into account.  In addition to these factors, I also take into account her plea and mitigation.

10.Defendant, please stand up.  After considering all those relevant factors, I take for Charge 2 a starting point of 5 years’ imprisonment.  You have pleaded guilty.  You are entitled to a discount of one-third.  After that discount is applied, for Charge 2, you are sentenced to 3 years and 4 months’ imprisonment.  This will be served consecutively to the Fanling Magistracy case 3244 of 2015.  Do you understand the sentence?

DEFENDANT: Yes.