You have admitted, in the 1st charge, that on 9 February 2015, at the Cheung Chau Ferry Pier, Cheung Chau, you unlawfully trafficked in 27.24 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 26.73 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride.
In respect of the 2nd charge, you have admitted that on 29 July 2015, at No 131 Fa Yuen Street, Mong Kok, you unlawfully trafficked in 5.82 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 5.73 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, 1.13 grammes of a solid containing 0.73 grammes of cocaine, 94 tablets containing 0.97 grammes of nimetazepam and one tablet and one tablet fragment weighing a total of 0.47 grammes containing ketamine and methylenedioxymethamphetamine, being a compound structurally derived from N-alkyl-α-methylphenethylamine by substitution in the ring with an alkyl-enedioxy substituent, which effectively is known as MDMA or Ecstasy.
On 9 February 2015, a police officer was on plainclothes duty with other team members at Cheung Chau. At about 1.30 pm that day, you were stopped and searched by this police officer at the Cheung Chau Ferry Pier. Found in your handbag were three transparent plastic bags containing the drugs in Charge 1. Two of the bags were similar in weight, that is 13-odd grammes each, and the other bag was much smaller, of 0.74 grammes. Each of these bags contained ‘Ice’. The total amount of drugs was as stated in the charge.
On 29 July 2015, just before 1 am, you were seen acting suspiciously in the Mong Kok area. A woman police officer then observed you and followed you into the building at 131 Fa Yuen Street. You were intercepted in that building at about 1.30 am. Inside your handbag, three plastic bags containing dangerous drugs were found. Two of the bags contained 1.13 grammes of a solid containing 0.73 grammes of cocaine. The other bag contained 0.93 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 0.92 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, otherwise known as ‘Ice’. The police having established that you lived in the building on the 9th Floor, a house search was carried out therein.
The following were found upon search. There were six resealable plastic bags containing 4.89 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 4.81 grammes of ‘Ice’ and one resealable plastic bag containing one tablet and one tablet fragment of 0.47 grammes containing ketamine and MDMA or Ecstasy. There were also 94 tablets and one tablet fragment containing 0.97 grammes of nimetazepam. Also found were two sets of small electronic scales, one box containing numerous small spoons, one blue plastic box containing 19 sets of multiple-coloured plastic bags.
Defendant, Mr Keith Fung, your counsel, has mitigated fully and thoroughly on your behalf. You are 21 years of age. Prior to the commission of these offences, you had committed an offence in 2011 for criminal damage for which you were placed on probation. However, you breached your probation a few months after that and were sentenced to rehabilitation centre.
In regard to the second offence, Count 2, you committed this offence whilst on bail for Charge 1. You had failed to surrender to the custody of the court and for that you were charged and sentenced, on 9 September 2015, to 4 weeks’ imprisonment.
Mr Fung has submitted to me two medical reports, one by Siu Lam and the other by Queen Mary Hospital. In essence, it confirms that you are a drug dependant and it seems as though you had been dabbling with drugs since the very young age of 12.
I have also received a number of letters from yourself, your stepmother, a member of the Islands District Board and a reverend from the Christian Prison Pastoral Association, as well as one from the Hong Kong Christian Kan Sun Association. In short, as regards yourself, you are deeply remorseful for throwing away your young years of life and habitually taking drugs. Since your remand in custody from July 2015, you have had great reflection and it appears to me now, if you are sincere in your words, that it is time for you to change your life and lead a decent law-abiding life.
You lost your mother when you were young and you feel that you did not appreciate your stepmother’s care and love for you. You thought that your father’s love went to your other siblings. In any event, now, since your remand in custody, you appreciate and welcome your stepmother’s and father’s care, support and love for you and, with that, I hope that you will lead a more decent life. These letters show that you have good support and this, I hope, as the Reverend Poon has said, should help you integrate into life when you are eventually released.
As regards the trafficking in the drugs ‘Ice’, the guidelines are clearly set out in the Court of Appeal case of Tam Yi Chun. For up to 10 grammes, the guideline is one of 3 to 7 years, and between 10 and 70 grammes, the guideline is for 7 to 11 years’ imprisonment starting point after trial.
In sentencing you, I take the combined approach and then I will sentence you individually for each charge. In Charge 2, save for 5.73 grammes of ‘Ice’, there are other drugs such as 0.73 grammes of cocaine and 9.73 grammes of nimetazepam which is equivalent to ketamine. Although, as Mr Fung’s words are, this is technically a cocktail of drugs, the smaller amounts of ketamine and cocaine are very nominal amounts.
Given the nominal amounts of those other drugs, save for ‘Ice’, they would not affect the sentence to be imposed which I take as the more significant drug, that is ‘Ice’. Given the amount of those small drugs, it would not affect the starting point for the main drug, ‘Ice’. Therefore, on the principle of totality, I would combine the drugs in Charge 1 and Charge 2 and use that as the starting point for sentence.
In the circumstances, in Charge 1 there is 26.73 grammes of ‘Ice’ and in Charge 2 there is 5.73 grammes of ‘Ice’, making a total of 32.46 grammes of ‘Ice’. Following the guidelines for that quantity of ‘Ice’, a starting point of 8 years and 3 months’ imprisonment would be appropriate.
You have pleaded guilty and therefore you deserve the one-third discount and you shall therefore be sentenced to 5 years and 6 months’ imprisonment.
I shall now sentence you individually for each offence. On Charge 1, I would have taken a starting point of 8 years’ imprisonment. Giving you full credit for your plea of guilty, that term is reduced to one of 5 years and 4 months’ imprisonment.
In Charge 2, I would have taken a starting point of 5 years’ imprisonment. Giving you full credit for your plea of guilty, that term shall be reduced to 3 years and 4 months.
To reflect the sentence of 5 years 6 months, I order 2 months of Charge 2 to run consecutively to Charge 1 and the remainder of the term to run concurrent.
Just one matter before I finish. Mr Fung had stated in his mitigation that part of the drugs were for your own consumption. As I mentioned, I accept that you are drug dependant. Mr Fung had said that approximately 10 per cent of the drugs in Charge 1 and 10 per cent of the drugs in Charge 2 were for your own consumption. I do not consider that these drugs, that 10 per cent for your own consumption is a significant proportion of the drugs to reduce the basic starting point. The case of Tam Ling Yuen, CACC 195/2015, is referred to on the basis that a significant proportion of the drugs should be for one’s own consumption before any discount from the basic starting point is taken.
Furthermore, as can be seen from the photographs in the Admitted Facts, it would appear that you had run quite a sophisticated trafficking scheme in that the quantity of plastic bags and the multitude of colours and spoons and weighing scales show to me that, clearly, you were involved in trafficking these drugs.