HKSAR v. Mak Chun Hin, Ronald

HCCC 92/2017

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 92 OF 2017

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

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COURT: Defendant, you pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance. You admitted, on 9 June 2016, at the junction of Hung Hom Road and Fat Kwong Street, Hung Hom, you unlawfully trafficked in 16.73 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 16.30 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride. This drug is commonly known as ‘Ice’.

You had pleaded guilty before the magistrate at Eastern Magistracy on 13 March 2017 and as a result of your plea of guilty, you were committed to the Court of First Instance to be sentenced.

On 9 June, at about 12.42 pm, police officers intercepted the vehicle you were driving at the junction of Hung Hom Road and Fat Kwong Street. Upon search of your person, they found, inside your underwear, that is your underpants, a brown bag containing five transparent resealable plastic bags containing the amount of drugs as stated in the charge. You were arrested and cautioned for trafficking in dangerous drugs and, under caution, you said the ‘Ice’ was bought for your self-consumption and your friend sitting in the passenger seat in the car had no knowledge about it.

The retail value of the ‘Ice’ in June 2016 was estimated to be $5,688.

A urine sample taken from you by the Correctional Services Department two days after your arrest, that is on 11 June, when you were admitted into their custody, showed negative result for five chemicals tested, including amphetamine.

You are 29 years of age. You have seven previous convictions. Five are related to dangerous drugs. Two are similar, that is of trafficking in dangerous drugs, to which you were sentenced to 3 years and 6 months’ imprisonment in 2008. You are an online businessman by employment.

Mr Khattak, your counsel, has informed me that you have been a drug dependant now for some 12 years. Your previous convictions for possession of dangerous drugs show that, as well as the two occasions you have been admitted into the drug addiction treatment centre. Mr Khattak initially mitigated on the basis that some of the drugs were for your own consumption despite your admission before the magistrate, that you admitted that they were all for unlawful trafficking.

Mr Khattak still informs the court that a proportion of it was for your own consumption, but is not pursuing the fact that a significant proportion was for your own consumption. Unless a significant proportion is for your own consumption, the courts are unable and do not grant a discount from the starting point. In the circumstances, I shall sentence you on the basis that the whole amount of drugs was for trafficking.

Defendant, the trafficking guidelines for trafficking in ‘Ice’ are set down in the case of Tam Yi Chun, that is CACC 524/2011. The amount that you were trafficking in was 16.30 grammes of ‘Ice’ and following the guidelines laid down therein, between 10 and 70 grammes of ‘Ice’, a starting point is one of between 7 to 11 years’ imprisonment, after trial. Given the quantity of drugs that you were trafficking in, had you been convicted after trial, I would have taken a starting point of 7 years and 3 months’ imprisonment.

You pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and therefore a one-third discount is warranted.

In the circumstances, your sentence shall be reduced by one-third and you will be sentenced to a term of 4 years and 10 months’ imprisonment.

I have not enhanced your sentence in this charge as your last conviction for trafficking in dangerous drugs was now approximately nine years ago.