HKSAR v. Heung Chi-fai, Barry

HCCC 61/2016

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 61 OF 2016

-----------------

-----------------

---------------------------------

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

---------------------------------

COURT:

Mr Heung, you have pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in dangerous drugs, in 23.12 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, contrary to sections 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134, and you are formally convicted upon that plea.

The street value of what you had on you in July of 2015 was $6,748.

But you were unemployed at that time and you were having your rent paid for you by family members. You were found in a bad state on 10 July, in Portland Street, and as a result of the way you were, you were searched. Four transparent resealable plastic bags of ‘Ice’ of inconsistent weights were found under your shorts within a larger plastic bag, and upon arrest and caution and in video-recorded interview, you said that the drugs were for your own consumption.

Your counsel, Mr Cheung, prays that in aid today, along with a memorandum which I have before me from the Correctional Services Department which indicates that you had a number of different drugs in your blood stream when you were in Lai Chi Kok, including amphetamine.

No doubt, Mr Heung, you are an abuser of drugs. Your criminal record suggests that that is the case and it is not a surprise to find that, at 51 years of age, you are single and unemployed.

You have a number of criminal matters recorded against you including six for possession and two for trafficking, the last being in 2007 when you received a term of imprisonment of 7 years and 4 months. You were not released from prison until November 2014 and unfortunately, you went back to your old habits.

I do not accept that any part of that which was hidden under your shorts was for self-consumption. You were provided with a risk-free opportunity to explain why the court should discount some part of your sentence on the basis that you would not have trafficked all of the amount, but you declined.

I accept that you do consume drugs but I believe that those drugs would have been at your home address and that these packets found in your shorts were for sale to feed that addiction.

The relevant sentencing guideline to the offence of trafficking in ‘Ice’ in July 2015 is HKSAR v Tam Yi Chun. For trafficking in between 10 and 70 grammes of ‘Ice’, the sentencing range is between 7 and 11 years. For trafficking in 23.12 grammes of ‘Ice’, I consider an appropriate starting point, in all the circumstances of this case, to be 7 years and 9 months.

I have taken into consideration what has been said on your behalf, and your background, but the trafficking of dangerous drugs is a very serious offence and deterrence is therefore an overwhelming factor.

Whilst I have heard your personal circumstances and I understand the reason for the commission of this offence, in the face of such a serious offence, there is nothing else which can be said on your behalf which would warrant a more lenient sentence.

Therefore, the sentence which I pass upon you is one, with the one-third discount that you are entitled to, of 5 years and 2 months.