HKSAR v. Tam Tsz Hang
Read the full judgment text of HCCC 371/2017 on BabelCite. This High Court CFI judgment was delivered on 4 May 2018.
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HCCC 371/2017 [2018] HKCFI 1124 IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE CRIMINAL CASE NO 371 OF 2017 -----------------
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-------------------------------------------- Transcript of the Audio Recording -------------------------------------------- COURT: The defendant pleaded guilty to one charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drug Ordinance, Cap 134. The defendant was seen and followed by customs officers to have been carrying a white plastic bag to a flat which was later discovered to be his residence. Later, he came out of the flat without the plastic bag. He was intercepted just before he was about to enter a shopping centre. When the defendant was taken back to the flat, he admitted that he had drugs inside and directed the customs officers to retrieve the drugs and an electronic scale. Under caution, he said that he would distribute it to others for a reward of $2,000. Upon analysis, the drugs were found to be 1,975 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 1,922 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride. The market value of the drugs was in the region of $556,000. The defendant has a clear record. By way of mitigation, I am told that he was a Form 4 student and is now aged 19. His parents were divorced when he was three years old and he was entrusted to be taken care of by his maternal aunt. He claimed to have committed the present offence for financial reasons, to repay a debt without realising the seriousness of the offence and its consequence. In sentencing the defendant, I have considered his guilty plea, mitigation forwarded by counsel, and the existing tariff for trafficking in ice. According to the case of Tam Yi-chun for trafficking in the amount as shown, the tariff is between 23 to 26 years, for cocaine weighing between 1,200 to 4,000 grammes. I stand to be corrected; that is for ‘Ice’ as well, for that amount. The present case involves 1,922 grammes of ‘Ice’; whilst a mathematically, purely mathematical calculation, calls for a starting point of 23 years and 9 months, in view of his relatively young age and clear record, I am minded to adopt a starting point of 23 years’ imprisonment. He is entitled to the full one-third discount for his plea, and is sentenced to 15 years and 4 months’ imprisonment; that is 184 months’ imprisonment. |