HKSAR v. Lam King Hin

HCCC 273/2015

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 273 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 pleaded guilty before me to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug. The dangerous drug involved is 1,721.93 grammes of mixture containing 1,425.65 grammes of ketamine.

The estimated retail value of the ketamine involved was HK$216,963.

At 11.25 pm on 22 January 2015, police officers saw the defendant acting furtively outside an industrial building on Hung To Road, Kwun Tong. They told the defendant to stop for an inquiry, but the defendant ran away. They chased after the defendant and saw him threw some plastic bags on the road. The defendant was eventually apprehended by the police. The plastic bags thrown away by the defendant were retrieved which were subsequently found to have contained a total of seven transparent ziplock plastic bags containing 1,709 grammes of a powder containing 1,415 grammes of ketamine.

Upon search on the defendant, two other transparent ziplock plastic bags were found containing 12.93 grammes of a powder containing 10.65 grammes of ketamine. Besides, HK$14,560.05 was found on him. Under caution, the defendant remained silent.

At the time of the offence, the defendant was 17 years old. He was studying for a diploma on information technology at the Vocational Training Centre at Tseung Kwan O. It is a three year course, and the defendant was in his second year. He has a clear record. The defendant is the only child of his parents. His father is a construction worker and his mother is a housewife. They are both present in court.

In his mitigation on behalf of the defendant, Mr Cheng handed in a letter written by the defendant. In the letter, the defendant says he is now very remorseful, feeling ashamed before his parents and promised that he will not do harm to society again.

Trafficking in dangerous drugs is a serious offence and the Court of Appeal has laid down sentencing guidelines in respect of different kind of dangerous drugs.

In Secretary for Justice v Hii Siew Cheng [2009] 1 HKLRD 1, for trafficking in a quantity of over 1,000 grammes of ketamine, the starting point for sentencing should be more than 14 years’ imprisonment. In HKSAR v Sin Chung Kin [2013] 1 HKLRD 622, the Court of Appeal held that for trafficking in 2,000 to 3,000 grammes of ketamine, the starting point for sentencing should be in the range of 18 to 20 years’ imprisonment.

Making reference to these guidelines, for trafficking in ketamine in the quantity of 1,425.65 grammes, I would adopt a starting point of 15 years and 6 months. The objective of imposing a heavy sentence for these kind of offences is for deterrence. Although the defendant is relatively young, his age cannot be categorised as extremely young. There is really no valid mitigating factor, apart from his guilty plea. Taking into account the guilty plea, the sentence is reduced to 10 years and 4 months’ imprisonment.