Chan Yau v. The Queen
Read the full judgment text of CACC 141/1974 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment.
1. The Appellant was convicted before the District Court on his own confession of possession of dangerous drugs for the purpose of unlawful trafficking. He was arrested at the Outlying Islands Pier in Hong Kong with nearly four kilogrammes of opium in his possession. The market retail street value of those drugs is given as about $40,000. The sentence imposed was one of 3 ½ years' imprisonment. The Appellant is a man of 59 years of age.
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CACC000141/1974 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF HONG KONG (APPELLATE JURISDICTION) CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 141 OF 1974 -----------------
----------------- Coram: Huggins & McMullin, JJ. Date of Judgment: 2nd April 1974. ----------------- JUDGMENT ----------------- Huggins, J.: 1. The Appellant was convicted before the District Court on his own confession of possession of dangerous drugs for the purpose of unlawful trafficking. He was arrested at the Outlying Islands Pier in Hong Kong with nearly four kilogrammes of opium in his possession. The market retail street value of those drugs is given as about $40,000. The sentence imposed was one of 3 ½ years' imprisonment. The Appellant is a man of 59 years of age. 2. What has caused us a little concern in this case is that the learned judge said in passing sentence:
He subsequently said:
The learned judge commented that the quantity of drugs was comparatively insubstantial but he placed great stress on the Appellant's apparent lack of co-operation with the police. By that he appears to have meant that he did not tell the police from whom he obtained the drugs or where he was taking them. The Appellant said that he was unable to identify those people. It is, we think, apparent that the learned judge appreciated that he was imposing an unusual sentence and it is conceded by counsel for the Crown that the normal sentence in a case of this kind would be 2 to 2 ½ years' imprisonment. We are unable to see that there was sufficient justification for an unusual sentence in this case and particularly having regard to the age of the Appellant - although we appreciate that those who are trafficking in drugs often use the young, the old and the infirm as their tools - we think that this is a case where we ought to interfere. 3. We set aside the sentence of the learned judge and substitute a sentence of 2 ½ years' imprisonment. 2nd April 1974. Representation: |