HKSAR v. Yip Cho Wing

HCCC 386/2017

[2018] HKCFI 342

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 386 OF 2017

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

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COURT:

Defendant, on 15 October 2017, you pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug before a magistrate at the Eastern Magistracy. As a result of your plea of guilty, you are committed here to the Court of First Instance for sentence.

You admitted that on 9 March 2017, at the Cheung Ching bus terminus, Cheung Ching Estate, Tsing Yi, you unlawfully trafficked in 27.4 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 22.9 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride.

The facts are that on that day, police officers stopped you at the bus terminus and found inside your right jacket pocket, one transparent resealable plastic bag containing the drugs as stated in the charge. You were arrested and under caution, you said “I just help somebody drag the ‘Ice’ here and give them to somebody for which I will be receiving $400 from somebody.” You claimed that you were only going to receive the $400 reward upon successful transaction at the terminus.

The estimated street value of the drugs was $7,727.

Defendant, you are 37 years of age. You have 23 previous convictions. Two for possession of dangerous drugs, four for trafficking in dangerous drugs and one for possession of equipment for injecting dangerous drugs. You are divorced but remarried. Your wife is living in China. At the time of commission of this offence, you were earning some $20,000. However, you were required to maintain your ex-wife and two sons and present wife in China and as you were drug dependant on ‘Ice’, you had no spare cash to feed your addiction and therefore this led to your commission of this offence.

Your counsel, Ms Karen Cheung, submits that about one-tenth of the drugs in question were for your own consumption. She accepts that this is not a significant amount but nevertheless asks me to exercise my discretion to select a lower staring point. She has also urged this court not to enhance your starting point as a result of your previous convictions.

Defendant, for your last four convictions, all those convictions related to trafficking in dangerous drugs. Three of those convictions were in 2011. The last conviction was in 2014 to which you were sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment by the High Court. You were released from your term of imprisonment on 8 March 2016. A year and a day after your release, you committed this offence.

It is clear from the Court of Appeal in Abdallah that the commissions of a similar offence particularly that of trafficking is an aggravating factor calling for enhancement of the starting point. In fact in your previous case to which you were sentenced in 2014, the High Court there enhanced your sentence by 6 months’ imprisonment and you yourself today through your counsel have admitted that is so. Although your counsel has asked me not to enhance your sentence on this basis. I see no ground for not applying the enhancement. It is clear that you have been unfortunately continuing to repeat the same similar very serious offence of trafficking.

Defendant, the amount of ‘Ice’ that you were trafficking in this offence was 22.9 grammes. The guidelines are laid down in the case of Tam Yi Chun, between 10 and 70 grammes of ‘Ice’, the starting point is one of 7 to 11 years’ imprisonment. Had you been convicted after trial, I would have taken a starting point of 7 years and 9 months’ imprisonment. There is an aggravating factor in this case calling for the enhancement of the starting point because you have previously been convicted of trafficking in dangerous drugs on four previous occasions. In the circumstances, I shall enhance your sentence by 6 months’ imprisonment.

Therefore, the starting point, had you been convicted after trial would have been one of 8 years and 3 months’ imprisonment. You pleaded guilty at the first opportunity at committal and in the circumstances, you shall be awarded a one-third discount and you should be sentenced to 5 years and 6 months’ imprisonment.