HKSAR v. Li Xin
Read the full judgment text of HCCC 346/2017 on BabelCite. This High Court CFI judgment was delivered on 23 January 2018.
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HCCC 346/2017 [2018] HKCFI 343 IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE CRIMINAL CASE NO 346 OF 2017 -----------------
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-------------------------------------------- Transcript of the Audio Recording -------------------------------------------- COURT: The defendant is charged of one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug. He pleaded guilty before the magistrate and he is now remitted for sentence. The relevant drugs involved is 26.1 grammes of ‘Ice’ with retail value of HK$7,417. On 3 March 2017, the defendant was intercepted by a police officer in Mong Kok. The drugs were found inside a plastic box with the defendant. Under caution, the defendant said he delivered the relevant ‘Ice’ for a reward of $400. The defendant is 23 years old. He is single, education up to Form 3 level. He has one previous conviction of possession of dangerous drugs for which he was sentenced for a probation order, and in breach of the probation order, he was sentenced to the DATC. According to the defendant, he started consuming ‘Ice’ since 2017. The defendant is living with his mother and his stepfather. His natural father left him when he was an infant. As submitted by Mr Li, counsel for the defendant, that the defendant committed the present offence due to financial reasons. He incurred debts for payment of his friend’s bills. Mr Li submitted that the defendant is now very remorseful. He was deeply impressed by his mother having to visit him by travelling a long journey frequently. The defendant has written a letter by himself to the court saying that he is now very remorseful and asks for a lenient sentence. His uncle and his stepfather also write to the court to ask for leniency for the defendant. As rightly acknowledged by Mr Li, trafficking in dangerous drugs is a very serious offence. Those who committed this offence must face inevitably a long imprisonment term of sentence. The Court of Appeal has laid down sentencing tariff for different kind of drugs. For trafficking in ‘Ice’, in HKSAR v Tam Yi Chun, the appropriate starting point for sentence for trafficking in 10 to 70 grammes of ‘Ice’ is 7 to 10 years’ imprisonment. In the present case, the quantity of ‘Ice’ involved is 26.1 grammes. In consideration of the background of the defendant and the mitigation submitted by Mr Li, I would adopt a starting point of 7½ years for such quantity. The purpose of the heavy sentence for the offence of trafficking in dangerous drugs is for deterrence. Usual factors including financial reasons or financial situation is not a valid mitigating factor. In the present case, the only valid mitigating factor is your guilty plea. You have a full discount of one-third of your early guilty plea. The sentence is therefore reduced to 5 years. |