HKSAR v. Okuyama Yoshihiro

HCCC 181/2015

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 181 OF 2015

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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case

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COURT: The defendant has been found guilty by the jury of the offence charged on the indictment.

The particulars of offence were that the defendant, on the 22nd day of March 2013 at the check-in counter of Korean Air at Aisle G, Departure Hall, Hong Kong International Airport, Chek Lap Kok, Lantau Island in Hong Kong, unlawfully trafficked in a dangerous drug, namely 5.91 kilogrammes of a crystalline solid containing 5.79 kilogrammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, commonly known as “Ice”.

His accomplice, Mr Yamaguchi Masaki, was sentenced in the criminal trial HCCC 37/2014. Mr Yamaguchi was before Andrew Chan J, and he passed a sentence of 17 years and 4 months of imprisonment on him.

Andrew Chan J adopted a starting point of 26 years of imprisonment. The reason was that the offence pre-dated the decision in HKSAR v Tam Yi Chun CACC 524/2011. That decision actually was made in 2014, and the present offence predated it.

According to that authority, trafficking in 4,000 to 15,000 grammes of “Ice”, imprisonment for 26 to 30 years would be appropriate. But fortunate for the defendant and Mr Yamaguchi, that decision pre-dated the offence of which both of them were found guilty, but Mr Yamaguchi had pleaded guilty to the offence; that is why he was given a full one‑third discount for his guilty plea.

In the present case, the defendant did not plead guilty and, therefore, he is not entitled to any discount. As his counsel asked, I would sentence him just by adopting the starting point as adopted by Andrew Chan J in the case against Yamaguchi, 26 years of imprisonment.