COURT: Mr Lau, you pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in 206 grammes of cocaine before the Eastern Magistracy on 6 February of this year. The Summary of Facts has been read out to you today and you accept that they form the basis of your plea. That includes the fact that you were stopped and searched on 23 June 2016 and found to have cocaine in 10 separate plastic bags which you were carrying.
At the time of your arrest, you said that you were delivering the cocaine for someone because you were in debt and I do note from your antecedents statement that you said to the police that you had a $10,000 credit card debt, without reference in fact to what Mr Lai said about the family debts.
You suggested in interview that you had been approached that very day and asked if you wanted to earn $3,000 for delivering some goods to the Metro Park Hotel. If that is so, Mr Lau, a complete stranger seems to have trusted you with $282,934 worth of cocaine and I doubt very much if that is the truth.
You are 24 years of age and you were of good character. You had a good education and you were employed as a hairdresser. You lived at home with your mother who clearly loves you and who will also suffer as a result of what you have done.
Mr Lai, on your behalf, has accepted that with offences as serious as trafficking in dangerous drugs, there is, unfortunately, very little that can be said which allows the court to depart from the usual tariff for such offences. But he did rightly provide the court with a picture of the person that you are and I do note from your letter that you are truly remorseful. Unfortunately, Mr Lau, that cannot reduce the sentence which I must pass today.
For trafficking in 206 grammes of cocaine, you fall to be considered under the guidelines set out in HKSAR v Lau Tak Ming [1990] 2 HKLR 370, and in that case, for trafficking in between 200 and 400 grammes, the guideline sentence after trial is between 12 and 15 years’ imprisonment. So for trafficking in 206 grammes of cocaine, the starting point is clearly, for sentence after trial, 12 years.
You will obviously receive a full one-third discount for your plea at an early stage and you will go to prison for 8 years.