HKSAR v. Lau Wai Ping

HCCC 370/2017

[2018] HKCFI 513

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 370 OF 2017

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

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COURT:

Ms Lau, on 9 October 2017, you pleaded guilty before the Eastern Magistracy to one count of trafficking in dangerous drugs, contrary to Sections 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134, and you admitted traffic in dangerous drugs on 23 March 2017, outside Fu Kwok House, Tai Wo Hau Estate, Kwai Chung. Those drugs were 22.7 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, which is commonly called “Ice”. It had a street value, at that time, of $6,740.

You were stopped at 11.15 pm that night and searched, and you had one resealable plastic bag of “Ice” in your trousers pocket. You said that you were delivering that bag to someone for a $1,000 reward, and you confirmed today that that was the case. No part of those drugs were for your own use.

You are now 39 years of age, and educated up to Form 5. You were first married in 1998 and had a daughter of that marriage, who is now 19 year old, but you separated from your husband and your daughter in 2000. You say that you became addicted to heroin as a result of that separation from your husband and daughter. You then cohabited with another man between 2001 and 2009, with whom you had two sons.

I can see from your criminal record that you were prosecuted for possession of dangerous drugs three times during that relationship, when you would have had two very young children to take care of. You say that those two boys are now in care because they were taken away from you as a result of the sentences of DATC which you received. They are still in foster care.

You split up with the father of your two sons and then lived with your current partner. During that relationship, you were prosecuted for possession of dangerous drugs three times, and now for trafficking in dangerous drugs.

He must have known you had a drug habit, not a lifestyle into which a further child should have been born, and yet you were pregnant at the time of this arrest, and you gave birth to a baby daughter whilst on remand in November 2017.

You were unemployed at the time of this offending. You say you were a housewife, but it is clear that you made money by running small quantities of drugs. You are before this court, having in your possession just one packet of “Ice”, and you will be sentenced on that basis. But there is no doubt that this was not a one-off offence, and that you knowingly chose to do so even though you were pregnant. You said you had a drug habit, consuming “Ice”, and have been addicted to “Ice” since 2007.

You had a criminal record dating back to 2001, when you were in your early 20s. In fact, the first matter on the record is one of possession of dangerous drugs. There are eight matters known, seven of which are for possession. You have had Drug Addiction Treatment Centre four times. You have been sent to prison for 9 months, then 2 months, and then 3 months, none of which has had any effect, because you are now before the High Court for trafficking.

I have listened to everything that Mr Lee has said on your behalf, you are clearly a drug addict. You have no income, and that of your partner is limited, so you have no spare cash to pay for your drug habit and, as a result, you chose to traffic in dangerous drugs in order to pay for that habit.

The guideline case for trafficking in “Ice” is HKSAR v Tam Yi Chun [2014] 3 HKLRD 691. The starting point after trial for between 10 grammes and 70 grammes is 7 to 11 years’ imprisonment, and therefore, for 22.7 grammes, the starting point after trial would be 7 years and 9 months. You are entitled to a full one-third discount for your early guilty plea, which is to your credit. You will go to prison for 5 years and 2 months.