Read the full judgment text of CACC 258/2017 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 28 November 2018 before Macrae VP, Zervos JA.
Criminal law – dangerous drugs – trafficking in a cocktail of drugs – sentencing – 'individual approach' vs 'combined approach' – whether sentencing judge erred in applying individual approach to similar-potency drugs in relatively small quantities – self-consumption discount – whether 15% discount was overly generous in absence of supporting evidence – appellant pleaded guilty in Magistrates' Court to trafficking in 15.8g of Ice, 17.48g of heroin hydrochloride and 0.14g of midazolam, contrary to s.4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134 – whether the judge misapplied the combined approach in determining the starting point for trafficking in multiple drugs – whether the starting point of 12 years' imprisonment adopted by the judge was manifestly excessive – whether the 15% discount for self-consumption was appropriate where no evidence substantiated the claimed one-quarter to one-third proportion – appeal against sentence allowed – starting point adjusted to 7 years 9 months using combined approach, with 10% discount for self-consumption and one-third discount for guilty plea, yielding 4 years 8 months' imprisonment – sentencing math: starting point 7y9m; 10% self-consumption discount to 7y; one-third guilty plea discount to 4y8m.
Legal issues: Sentencing approach for trafficking in multiple dangerous drugs – 'individual' vs 'combined' approach · Appropriate discount for self-consumption of trafficked drugs
Outcome: Appeal against sentence allowed; sentence reduced from 6 years and 10 months' imprisonment to 4 years and 8 months' imprisonment.
Cited by 73 cases · Cites 4 cases