HKSAR v. Yuen Chun Yiu

DCCC 323/2018

[2018] HKDC 1560

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO 323 OF 2018

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REASONS FOR SENTENCE

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1.The defendant pleaded guilty before me to one count of trafficking in dangerous drugs – the drugs are 25.05 grammes of a mixture containing 18.42 grammes of heroin hydrochloride.

2.About 6 o’clock in the evening of 3 January 2018, the defendant was walking in the streets of Sham Shui Po, as soon as he saw the officers on the beat, he walked away from them.

3.The officers followed every movement of the defendant, when he got to the outside of a construction site at Nam Cheong Road where he threw away a bag of drugs onto the ground, the officers then stopped the defendant and retrieved the bag he had thrown away.   

4.Inside the bag, the officers found the drugs in this case – there were 165 packets of drugs in all which were put in 6 separate resealable plastic bags. Also found on the defendant were a mobile phone and cash $50.

5.The retail value of the drugs in question is estimated to be $23,754.

6.The defendant, a 34-year-old man, has amassed 14 prior convictions over the past 17 years, 5 of which are drug-related – 3 trafficking and 2 possession. The rest are mainly to do with violence and dishonesty. His last conviction is drug possession in 2017 for which he was sentenced to DATC.

7.Not long after he was released from DATC (about 6 weeks), he committed the present offence. Counsel said it was all due to financial reasons.

8.The court heard that the defendant had been abusing drugs such as ketamine since the age of 18, which cost him $200 a day. He got married in 2003 but divorced 3 years later. He lives with his parents together with his two daughters, one 14 and the other 2; the older one is from the previous marriage and the younger one from his present relationship with a lady who lives apart.

9.When he was discharged from DATC for the second time in November 2017, counsel said it was a success this time in terms of rehabilitation - he decided to quit drugs for he realised that drugs had ruined his life. But back home when faced with the reality of having to feed his two daughters, he turned to trafficking once again.  He was asked by a drug dealer to deliver the drugs in question for the reward of one thousand dollars.

10.There are sentencing guidelines for trafficking in heroin – for trafficking between 10 grammes and 50 grammes, a term of 5 to 8 years is to be considered. 

11.For the amount the defendant admitted to trafficking, I take 67.5 months as the starting point, taking into account his timely plea, the term is reduced to 45 months.

12.There being nothing else to justify a further reduction in sentence, the defendant is therefore sentenced to 45 months’ imprisonment.