Read the full judgment text of CACC 298/2015 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 20 July 2016 before Lunn VP, Macrae JA and McWalters JA.
Criminal law – drug trafficking – dangerous drugs – cocaine – Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134, s.4(1)(a) and (3) – appeal against conviction and sentence – Applicant arrested outside Mirador Mansion with 55.88 grammes of pure cocaine concealed in an umbrella – street value HK$145,983 – defence of recent possession disputed – summing-up meticulous and fair – whether no arguable grounds of appeal against conviction – whether sentence enhancement for torture claimant status excessive – whether guidelines for enhancement should be issued – drug trafficking affects community at large and Hong Kong's reputation – Sandagdorj Altankhuyag principle affirmed – Norena Gutierrez applied – non-refoulement claimants permitted to remain at liberty during processing of claims owe obligation to abide by the law – court declines to issue fixed percentage guidelines for enhancement – enhancement of 1 year 10 months reduced to 1 year – starting point 8 years 2 months under Lau Tak Ming guidelines – sentence reduced from 10 years to 9 years 2 months
Legal issues: Adequacy of summing-up and leave to appeal against conviction · Quantum of sentence enhancement for torture claimant status · Whether guidelines should be issued for sentence enhancement of non-refoulement claimants
Outcome: Application for leave to appeal against conviction refused; application for leave to appeal against sentence allowed to the extent of reducing the sentence from 10 years' imprisonment to 9 years and 2 months' imprisonment
Cited by 23 cases · Cites 3 cases