HKSAR v. Agossa Bertrand Liha
Read the full judgment text of HCCC 206/2017 on BabelCite. This High Court CFI judgment was delivered on 19 March 2018.
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HCCC 206/2017 [2018] HKCFI 774 IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE CRIMINAL CASE NO 206 OF 2017 -----------------
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------------------------------------------------- Transcript of the Audio Recording of the Sentence in the above Case ------------------------------------------------- COURT: Yes, the defendant has been convicted after trial of one count of unlawful trafficking in a dangerous drug. The drugs involved, namely 908 grammes of a solid containing 500 grammes of cocaine. He was seen by custom officers to have acted suspiciously, and when they tried to intercept him, he threw away the packet of drugs on the ground. It was only after a chase that he was finally subdued, and the drugs were recovered. Trafficking in 400 to 600 grammes of cocaine attracts a starting point of 15 to 20 years’ imprisonment. In fact, two days before he committed the present offence, he had received a suspended sentence in relation to a breach of condition of stay. The sentence for that was 2 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for 3 years. He was a Form 8 holder awaiting deportation. Considering the present circumstances and the offence, I adopt a starting point of 17 and a half years’ imprisonment. With the aggravating feature that he was a Form 8 holder who was permitted to remain at liberty before his deportation at the hospitality of Hong Kong, he had committed a serious crime. I enhance that by 18 months to 19 years’ imprisonment. Having done so I do not see fit to do anything about the suspended sentence. So 19 years is the sentence that I pass. |