HKSAR v. Tang Man Fong

HCCC 483/2015

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 483 OF 2015

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

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COURT: You pleaded guilty before the magistrate on 11 December 2015 to one count of trafficking in dangerous drugs, contrary to sections 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134, and you stand formally convicted of that charge.

The Statement of Facts was read out on a previous occasion and your counsel, Ms Wong, agreed them on your behalf, but in summary, you were intercepted on 23 June 2015, in the Tai Ping Estate Car Park, outside of the Ground Floor of Ping Chi House; and you were searched. The police officer recovered three bags containing, in all, 121.9 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, or ‘Ice’ as it is commonly called. You were also in possession of some cash, $1,080, and a mobile phone.

Upon arrest and caution, you immediately said that you were delivering the ‘Ice’ for someone called Ah Pong, and in interview, you explained that you delivered ‘Ice’ for Ah Pong and that you would receive drugs as a reward for doing so as you had been taking ‘Ice’ for about a year. That is supported by the facts contained within your antecedents statement, and I note that at all times, you have been fully co-operative with the police.

The street value of the drugs that you had in your possession was $48,906.

I have read all of the papers in this case, including the record of interview, in which, as I said, you were completely frank; your non-prejudicial statements; and the letter on your behalf, by the Commissioner of Police who, unusually, before this court has explained the role which you played in bringing a far more sinister character than you to justice.

That took bravery on your part, especially as you had to attend an identification parade and you are at significant risk of reprisal. For someone so young, I am impressed about your desire to correct the wrongs that you have done and your honesty at all times in admitting immediately the full extent of the role that you played.

On your behalf, counsel had said that you had a troubled youth but despite that and your current difficulties, you have a family which supports you and a social worker who supports both you and your family. You are very lucky indeed to have that framework against which you can hopefully rebuild your life. This is an opportunity, this time, which you must not throw away because this conviction will be held against you if you appear before the courts again.

You are now 18 years of age but you were 17 at the time of the offence and you have only one matter on your criminal record which was some time ago and is wholly irrelevant to today’s proceedings.

The relevant sentencing guideline for the offence of trafficking in ‘Ice’ is a case called HKSAR v Tam Yi Chun [2014] 3 HKLRD 691. That case says that for trafficking in between 70 grammes and 300 grammes of ‘Ice’, the sentencing range is between 11 and 15 years after trial. For trafficking in 121.9 grammes of ‘Ice’, the starting point is therefore 11 years and 9 months.

But you say that you had a habit of drug abuse and that is made out in the papers before me. You say that you would have expected to consume further drugs as a reward, that is why you were trafficking, and that is clearly the pattern that was adopted by Ah Pong in order to keep you and other young people under his control.

So I do accept that some part of the last packet of drugs which you had upon you when you were arrested would have eventually been consumed by you and others in the same position as you, in the manner that you suggested in your non-prejudicial statement, and as such, I am prepared to accept that you were an addict with a daily habit and would have consumed some significant part of those drugs.

So I am prepared, therefore, to give you the benefit of the doubt on that and reduce the total amount of the 121.9 grammes by half of the amount of the last packet, which would reduce your starting point to 11 years and 6 months.

You have been completely full and frank with the police since your arrest and you were prepared to give evidence against Ah Pong who, I am sure, would not have been prosecuted, let alone pleaded guilty, unless you had been prepared to provide evidence to the police such that they had sufficient evidence to charge him as the fingerprints alone would perhaps not have been enough. I realise, as I have said, that this may cause difficulty for you as a youngster in prison, and indeed when you are released. And I have listened to what counsel has to say on this issue and to what Ms Chan on behalf of the prosecution has fairly conceded on your behalf, and I am exceptionally, and in the circumstances of this case alone, prepared to discount your sentence by greater than the usual one-third discount that you would obtain for your very early plea.

So the sentence which I pass on you is one of 6 years’ imprisonment.