HKSAR v. She Suet Yee

DCCC 578/2016

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 578 OF 2016

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REASONS FOR SENTENCE

The defendant pleaded guilty to a charge of "drug trafficking" (Charge 1) and a "simple possession" charge (Charge 2).

Summary of Facts

2.About 9:30 p.m. on 23 March 2016, WPC 1059 (PW1) and PC 8813 (PW2) were observing the defendant at Ground Floor, Silka Seaview Hotel, Yau Ma Tei ("the Hotel").  After a few minutes, she was seen leaving the Hotel.  PWs 1 and 2 intercepted her when she was on her way out.  At the defendant's request, the officers escorted her to the rear lane of the Hotel, where she was searched.

3.Upon search, the defendant was found holding in her left hand and tucked into the left sleeve of her jacket 1 resealable plastic bag containing a plastic bag which contained 23.90 grammes of a solid containing 22.20 grammes of cocaine.  This is Charge 1.

4.Shortly afterwards, the defendant told the officers that another plastic bag containing drugs was hidden inside her bra.  She then took out from her bra a plastic bag which contained 1.09 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 1.09 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride (commonly known as ICE).  This is Charge 2.

5.Under caution, the defendant admitted that someone gave her $500 to deliver the drugs to another person in Yau Ma Tei.  In her video recorded interview, she disclosed more details.  In gist, in the evening on 23 March 2016, a female named "YoYo" gave her 2 bags of drugs in Mongkok.  The defendant claimed that she did not know the type of drug contained in the bigger bag.  She paid $300 for the smaller bag of ICE, which was for her own consumption.  YoYo told the defendant that a female would collect the drug from the defendant at the Hotel.  YoYo had shown the defendant photos of the female collector.

Mitigation & Sentence

6.The defendant is almost 22 and has a clear record.  Defence counsel Mr. WOON informed me that the defendant's parents separated when she was young.  She was raised by her father, who passed away 3 years ago.  At the time of the offence, the defendant was residing alone.

7.In mitigation, Mr. WOON submitted that before March 2016, the defendant worked as a clerk earning $11,000 per month. She resigned in February intending to switch jobs.  Unfortunately, she was unable to find a new job.  She soon used up most of her savings and had to feed her ICE habit, which she started 2 to 3 years ago.  As a result, she foolishly agreed to help YoYo.  Mr. WOON stressed that the defendant has been cooperative with the Police all along and has made full and frank admissions.  Her urine test results show that she was an ICE abuser.  Letters from the defendant and her mother were placed before me; their contents are duly noted.

8.Drug abuse has always been a problem in our society, and the HKSAR is determined to fight the battle against drugs in all aspects.  A clear message must be conveyed to the general public that "drug trafficking" is a dead serious crime and that drug traffickers would most certainly be punished by long-term imprisonment even for fresh offenders, so that there is a deterrent effect.

9.As a judge, I see day in and day out persons in my court being charged with "drug trafficking".  Many of them were just like the defendant – persons used by others as "couriers".  When people realize that the court would not treat drug traffickers lightly, there would be, hopefully, fewer willing "couriers"; thus making it difficult for criminals to exploit people with financial needs or other vulnerabilities.  Undoubtedly, most drug traffickers are "used" by bad persons (or so they claim).  That is the reason why we need to make people think twice before they agree to be "used".

10.For Charge 1, the Court of Appeal has laid down clear sentencing guidelines for trafficking in cocaine (see Attorney General v Pedro Nel Rojas [1994] 2 HKCLR 69 and The Queen v LAU Tak-ming & others [1990] 2 HKLR 370).  For 10 to 50 grammes, the sentence ranges from 5 to 8 years' imprisonment.  The defendant trafficked in 22.20 grammes of cocaine, the appropriate starting point is 5.5 years.  With the guilty plea, the sentence is reduced to 44 months.  Apart from this, I see no other mitigating factors which warrant any further reduction.   I sentence the defendant to 44 months' imprisonment.

11.For Charge 2, it involves 1.09 grammes of ICE.  I agree with Mr. WOON that based on its quantity and packaging as well as the defendant's urine test results, there is hardly any latent risk of trafficking. I adopt a starting point 6 months' imprisonment.  With the guilty plea, I sentence the defendant to 4 months' imprisonment.

12.Having considered the totality principle, I order the sentence for Charges 1 and 2 to run concurrently; thereby arriving at a total prison term of 44 months for both charges.