HKSAR v. Hussain Abid

HCCC 121/2016

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 121 OF 2016

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

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

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

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

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

COURT: Mr Hussain, you have pleaded guilty to trafficking in dangerous drugs. On 12 June 2015, you were observed at the MTR station in Yau Ma Tei, carrying a white Duty Free Dubai plastic bag and it was found to have in it 1.02 kilogrammes of a substance, which was in fact 52 pellets of cocaine, weighing 475 grammes.

The value of that cocaine was $1,067,940 in 2015.

You are 27 years old and of Pakistani origin. You came into Hong Kong in 2009 as a refugee and you were a Form 8 holder at the time of this offending.

I have listened very carefully to what Mr Grounds has said on your behalf. As ever, he seeks to put every form of mitigation that can possibly be entertained on your behalf before the court. But it is a very serious matter that you face and there is in fact very little mitigation that can actually affect the sentence that the court must pass.

It is a very serious offence, which causes great harm to many families and to the community at large. A community, Mr Hussain, in which you sought refuge and who harboured you and who placed trust in you for very many years. You, and those like you who think that they can solve their problems by being involved in dangerous drugs, must be shown that crime is not the answer and we do take a very dim view of those who traffic in dangerous drugs.

For trafficking in 475 grammes of cocaine, you fall to be considered under the guideline set out in HKSAR v Lau Tak Ming [1990] 2 HKLRD 370. For trafficking between 400 and 600 grammes of cocaine, as Mr Grounds has said, the guideline sentence, after trial, is between 15 and 20 years’ imprisonment. So for trafficking in 475 grammes of cocaine, the starting point for sentence is 16 years and 10 months.

You are a man of previous good character, but you are also a Form 8 holder and chose to commit this offence while taking advantage of the hospitality of the citizens of this country. That is an aggravating feature, but as you are of good character and because of the other circumstances of this case, I will not increase your sentence on this occasion because of that.

There has, however, been no other mitigation advanced which can reduce the sentence I am about to pass any further. You would normally receive a one-third discount for entering your plea at the first opportunity, but you did not do that, Mr Hussain, and you hoped to contest the narcotic content of the cocaine even though a Government Chemist Certificate was available.

That suggests to this court that you are a lot more than a simple courier if you thought that the narcotic content was something other than that relied upon by the prosecution. Nevertheless, as Mr Grounds has pointed out, there is no evidence to suggest any more within the Summary of Facts.

HKSAR v Ngo Van Nam [2016] 5 HKLRD 1, does not apply to your case because of your date of arrest. However, it has always been within the discretion of the court to take into account the passage of court proceedings and the behaviour of the defence to those court proceedings and the timing of a guilty plea. You will receive a slightly reduced discount of approximately 30 per cent because of the court time that I consider that you have wasted and the extra expense to the public purse.

You are thereby sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 11 years and 10 months. That is not as severe as that suggested in Ngo Van Nam, but it marks the court’s displeasure at the course of action you chose to take, the extra public expense and the late plea of guilty, and it also sends a warning to other defendants in your position that legitimate concerns will meet with a degree of latitude from the court where the circumstances suggest that such latitude is appropriate, but wasting court time without a reasonable and substantiated explanation will not.

Your sentence is 11 years and 10 months.