HKSAR v. Carvalho Dutra Manuel Henrique

HCCC 267/2017

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 267 OF 2017

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Transcript of the Audio Recording

of the Sentence in the above Case

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COURT:

Manuel Carvalho, I do not propose to preach a sermon to you. You must have been very well aware of the risks you were taking when you agreed to carry this very large quantity of cocaine from Brazil to Hong Kong. You have admitted, by your plea of guilty, that you were aware that what was concealed in the backpack was cocaine and you must have been aware of the harm that cocaine causes to drug addicts and society in general.

I am prepared to accept, because the contrary cannot be proved, that you are a man of clean record back in Portugal and I accept all that I have been told about your age of 50, your occupation and your family circumstances. If your imprisonment is going to cause distress to your partner and your child, then I am afraid you have only got yourself and your own foolishness to blame for that.

As Mr Mughal, your counsel, who has addressed me very eloquently on your behalf, has told you, aggravating your offence is the fact that you attempted to import this very large quantity of cocaine into Hong Kong. This makes your offence more serious than one of a person who traffics in dangerous drugs within Hong Kong and the courts of Hong Kong have long held that to be so.

From what he has told me, I know that Mr Mughal has told you that there are very firm guidelines set down for all judges in Hong Kong that we are to follow when sentencing those people who engage in drug trafficking. You will have been told by Mr Mughal that judges are expected to stick to those guidelines unless there are very compelling reasons for them not to do so, and there are no very compelling reasons in your case.

Following those guidelines, which are based on the weight of the active content of the dangerous drug trafficked, had you taken this case to trial and had you been convicted by a Hong Kong jury, you, given the active weight of the cocaine you attempted to bring into Hong Kong, which was 2,730 grammes, which is over 2½ kilogrammes, in a mixture of 3,646 grammes, you would have been facing a prison sentence of 26½ years’ imprisonment. I would have arrived at that by taking a starting point sentence of 24½ years’ imprisonment in respect of the drug trafficking based on the weight of the drugs, and added to it a further 2 years to take account of the fact that you attempted to import this quantity of cocaine into Hong Kong.

Your only mitigation, and it is a very powerful mitigation, is that you have pleaded guilty to your offence at the earliest opportunity, when you came before a magistrate who, because of the seriousness of your case, had to commit it to the High Court for sentence. Your early plea of guilty shows realism on your part. It shows an acceptance of the strength of the evidence against you and, most importantly, it indicates remorse on your part. Because of your early plea of guilty, I am permitted to reduce the 26½ year sentence you would have received quite considerably. In fact, I am permitted to reduce it by as much as one-third and that is what I am going to do.

Your sentence for your offence is therefore one of 17 years and 5 months’ imprisonment.

Under Hong Kong law, the period that you have been in custody since your arrest at the airport on 24 September last year will count as part of your sentence. I believe that the Portuguese Consulate in Hong Kong are aware of your case and it is their job to ensure that the authorities in Portugal and in Spain inform your partner of your sentence.