HKSAR v. Ng Tung Ping

HCCC 146/2018

[2018] HKCFI 2328

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 146 OF 2018

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Transcript of the Audio Recording

of the Sentence in the above Case

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COURT:

The defendant has pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in dangerous drugs and committed to this court for sentence. The dangerous drug involved is 27.3 grammes of a solid containing 26.7 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, commonly known as ‘Ice’.

The defendant was intercepted by a police officer in Temple Street in the evening of 22 April 2017 and the relevant drugs were found on him. The drugs were contained in a transparent resealable plastic bag wrapped in a piece of tissue. Under caution, he claimed that the drugs were for his own consumption.

The defendant has 13 previous criminal convictions, nine of which related to drugs. This is the third time the defendant committed the offence of trafficking in dangerous drugs. The last time he committed the same offence was in October 2016, for which he was sentenced to 68 months’ imprisonment. He was released in October 2016 and committed the present offence in April 2017. The correct dates for his sentence for the last offence was in 2013.

The defendant is 33 years old. He was educated up to Form 2 level and according to the defendant before the arrest he was a construction worker earning 16,000 per month. The defendant has written a letter to this court for mitigation, saying that he is now very remorseful after he became a Christian. He asked for a lenient sentence. Mr Boyton, counsel for the defendant, submitted on the defendant’s behalf that one-quarter of the drugs seized was for the defendant’s own consumption.

Mr Boyton submitted the record of the defendant’s urine test result at the time of his admission to Lai Chi Kok Detention Centre. The result is that it was amphetamine positive. For trafficking in this quantity of ‘Ice’, following the tariff laid down by the Court of Appeal in Tam Yi Chun, the appropriate starting point should be 8 years’ imprisonment.

I accept that a portion of the ‘Ice’ seized was for defendant’s own consumption, in view of the defendant’s conviction record for possession of dangerous drugs, and also the urine test result on his admission to Lai Chi Kok. For this factor, I reduce the starting point from 8 years to 7 years’ imprisonment.

On the other hand, as I said, the defendant committed the last trafficking in dangerous drug offence in 2013 and released from prison only in October 2016, and he committed the present offence in April 2017. This is an aggravating factor, and because of this, I would enhance the sentence by 6 months’ imprisonment, to a term of imprisonment of 7 years and 6 months.

Taking into account the defendant’s guilty plea, the sentence will be reduced to 60 months’ imprisonment.