HKSAR v. Kwok Chun Ping

DCCC 803/2017

[2018] HKDC 51

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 803 OF 2017

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.The defendant pleaded guilty to one charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug. Particulars are that he on 11^th July 2017 unlawfully trafficked in a 7.75g mixture which contained 5.87g of heroin hydrochloride.

Summary of facts

2.The defendant was stopped by a plainclothes Police officer while wandering inside the sitting out area at Nam Cheong Street.

3.Upon search, two re-sealable plastic bags were found in the defendant’s trousers pocket. One of the two bags contained 10 packets, which in turn contained a total of 4.96g of a mixture with a total narcotic content of 3.72g of heroin hydrochloride.

4.The other bag contained 16 packets, with a total narcotic content of 2.15g of heroin hydrochloride.

5.The defendant was arrested. He claimed under caution that he was helping others to sell ‘white powder’ because he had no money.

6.In the defendant’s video recorded interview conducted later on the same day, the defendant told the Police how he was approached by an unknown man a day or two before his arrest who asked the defendant if he wanted to make some money by selling heroin. The defendant agreed and was told to pick up the drugs from a park near the Society of Rehabilitation and Prevention at Shek Kip Mei Estate.

7.The defendant did pick up the drugs at around 2pm, about half an hour before his arrest. The defendant started selling at around 2:10pm. He was to sell the plastic bag containing 10 packets at $430 per packet, and the one containing 16 packets at $180 per packet.

8.The defendant claimed that $1,500 of the cash found on him was proceeds from sale of heroin.

9.The estimated street value of the seized heroin is around $5,557.

10.The defendant admitted that he had, at all material times, possessed the heroin for the purpose of trafficking.

Previous convictions

11.The defendant has 21 convictions from 4 court appearances. He was convicted of possession of dangerous drugs twice, but that was almost 17 years ago.

12.His last convictions were for 7 charges of obtaining property by deception and 2 charges of theft, when he was sentenced to a total of 9 months’ imprisonment on 1^st February 2013.

Mitigation

13.The defendant is 37, married, and lives with his mother and wife in a public housing estate. The defendant was educated up to Form 3 level. He had worked as a cook, delivery man, construction site worker and was an air-conditioner technician prior to his arrest. He was earning around $15,000 to $18,000 per month.

14.The defendant’s employment was terminated in June 2017 due to his drug relapse and has since been unemployed.

15.Counsel Ms Ng pointed out that the defendant had been fully cooperative towards the Police since his arrest. He has no previous trafficking record. He is no longer a drug addict and promises to turn a new leaf after his release, hoping to return to his previous employment as an air-conditioner technician.

Sentence

16.The sentencing tariffs for trafficking in heroin hydrochloride are set out in the case of R v Lau Tak Ming [1990] 2 HKLR 370, CACC 230/1989. Trafficking of up to 10g of narcotics would attract a sentence of between 2 to 5 years’ imprisonment.

17.The total weight of narcotics in the present case is 5.87g. An arithmetical application of the said band of sentence would lead to a starting point of 45 months’ imprisonment. This is the starting point I adopt.

18.Although the defendant has a number of previous convictions, this is his first trafficking conviction. He was last discharged from prison on 27^th September 2014. He was able to refrain from breaking the law for almost 3 years before committing the present offence. I will not enhance his sentence based on his previous conviction records.

19.The defendant had entered a timely plea and is granted the full one-third discount.

20.There being no other aggravating or mitigating factors, the defendant is sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment.