HKSAR v. Au Yeung Yiu Cheung, Billy

HCCC 449/2016

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 449 OF 2016

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

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COURT: The defendant pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in 145 grammes of ketamine on 4 November 2016 at Eastern Magistrates Court. He was committed to this court for sentence.

At about 12.35 am on 18 March 2016, police officers spotted a red private car, LM 3324, parked at Caltex Petrol Station at Kwun Tong Road. The defendant was sitting at the driver’s seat. They approached and revealed their identities. The defendant opened the door and fled. He was subsequently caught after a chase.

The police searched the private car, they found a pink plastic bag in the glove compartment of the front passenger seat. Inside the pink plastic bag was a bag of ketamine, the subject matter of the present charge. The defendant admitted delivering the ketamine for a reward of $1,500. In a subsequent video interview, the defendant maintained that he bought the ketamine for his own consumption.

The police estimated that the retail value of the ketamine in this case was about $33,000.

The defendant admits now that the ketamine was for unlawful trafficking.

The defendant is 47 years old. He had six previous convictions, not related to drug offences. He received education up to Form 5. He was a financial consultant at the time of the offence. He was married with two daughters aged 15 and 10. He was an addict at the time of the offence. In his letter to this court, the defendant claimed that while he worked as a salesperson in vehicles, business was not good. He borrowed money from a bank in order to support his family. He was lured by dubious friends to earn money to ease his financial problems. He is remorseful and pleads for leniency.

His wife wrote to this court, pointing out that the defendant used to be a filial son and caring father. The defendant was an honest person. She still could not believe that the defendant could commit this offence. She pleaded for leniency.

Mr Egan, counsel for the defendant, urged this court to grant some additional reduction given the background of this case and the personality of the defendant.

The sentence for trafficking 145 grammes of ketamine, according to Secretary for Justice v Hii Siew Cheng, should be 7 years and 2 months’ imprisonment. Having considered the circumstances of this case, I take this as the starting point. I deduct 2 years and 5 months for his plea. In my view, the one-third discount has sufficiently reflected the guilty plea and personal circumstances of the defendant. It is inappropriate to give further reduction.

In the circumstances, I sentence the defendant to 4 years and 9 months’ imprisonment.