HKSAR v. Chan Chung Yin

HCCC 60/2017

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 60 OF 2017

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

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COURT:

I will deal straightaway with sentence now. The defendant pleaded guilty to trafficking.

Could you please stay next to the dock, please? Thank you.

The defendant pleaded guilty to trafficking in 5.68 kilogrammes of a solid containing 3.26 kilogrammes of ketamine. When he first appeared in the Eastern Magistrates’ Court on 20 February 2017. He has therefore earned himself the maximum credit for his guilty plea. The defendant was stopped by the police who found 23 plastic bags containing ketamine inside his rucksack. He immediately admitted that he was distributing “K chai” on behalf of someone because he was short of money.

He had been promised $1,000 for the successful delivery of this large quantity of ketamine. It is apparent that he had been entrusted with drugs to the value of $1,226,880.

The sentencing guidelines for cases of this kind have been given to the defendant and his family in advance, so that he is well-aware of the very serious circumstances in which he finds himself. Those guidelines are to be found in HKSAR v Sin Chung Kin [2013] 1 HKLRD 627, and they provide for a sentence of not less than 20 years’ imprisonment for an amount of 3 kilos or above of this drug. I propose to adopt 20 years as the appropriate starting point in this case, having regard to the powerful mitigation advanced by Ms Lee on the defendant’s behalf.

Would you please stand? Mr Chan, your sentence on account of your timely plea of guilty will be 13 years and 4 months’ imprisonment. There will be an order in terms so far as the exhibits are concerned.