HKSAR v. Chan Choi Fan

DCCC 1026/2016

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO 1026 OF 2016

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REASONS FOR SENTENCE

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1.The defendant admitted to trafficking in a dangerous drug, namely, 14.34 g of mixture containing 11.71 g of heroin hydrochloride.

2.On the night of 26^th August 2016, police stopped the defendant while she was coming out of her flat in Pok Hong Estate, Shatin; a flat she shared with her father. She was then brought back into the flat for a house search.

3.Inside her room, police found the drugs in question which were kept in 9 separate bags along with some drug packaging paraphernalia such as a pair of scissors, a mini pocket scale, many small plastic bags etc.

4.She told police in a subsequent interview that she bought the drugs from a man two days ago paying $3,500 for 21 g. She would sell part of the drugs to friends to earn money to support her daughter and take the rest for her own consumption.

5.The market value of the seized drugs is estimated to be about $12,000.

6.The defendant, aged 43, is married with a 9-year-old daughter.  Though not yet divorced, the couple has been living apart for over 6 years; the defendant left the daughter in her sister’s care while she moved back to live with her father. At the time of the offence, the defendant worked as a part-time worker at a restaurant earning about $6,000 a month.

7.The defendant has 8 previous convictions; all except one are to do with possession of dangerous drug, this is her first conviction of trafficking. The court was told that the defendant is a long time drug abuser- she started using drugs in her teens. In fact, her first drug conviction is dating back as early as 1994.

8.Counsel for the defendant stressed that part of the drugs in question were for her own consumption and asked the court to adjust the sentence accordingly.

9.Given the fact that the defendant is a habitual drug user and the particular circumstances of the present case, the court is prepared to accept her claim that part of the drugs were for her own consumption.

10.There are sentencing guidelines for such an offence- trafficking in heroin between 10g and 50g, the term for consideration is 5 to 8 years.  For the amount of drugs she trafficked, I take 60 months as starting point; as for her claim of part self-consumption, I reduce it to 54 months.

11.Insofar as her mitigation is concerned, there isn’t anything of substance besides her guilty plea, and for that matter she is entitled to a 1/3 discount.

12.The defendant is therefore sentenced to a term of 36 months’ imprisonment.