HKSAR v. Lui Chi Fai

HCCC 372/2018

[2019] HKCFI 768

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 372 OF 2018

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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case

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COURT:

Defendant, on 26 November 2018, you pleaded guilty to two charges before a magistrate at the Eastern Magistracy. As a result of your pleas of guilty, you have been committed here to the Court of First Instance for sentence. The 1st charge to which you pleaded guilty was an offence of possession of a dangerous drug, contrary to section 8(1)(a) and (2) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance. You admitted that you had in your possession a dangerous drug, namely 1.63 grammes of a solid containing 1.57 grammes of cocaine.

In respect of the 2nd charge to which you pleaded guilty was an offence of trafficking in dangerous drugs. You admitted that you unlawfully trafficked in 54.6 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 53.3 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride. Both offences were committed on 16 January 2018, outside Portland Street Rest Garden, No 60 Portland Street, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon.

On 16 January, at the location as stated in the charges, at around 5.10 am, police officers saw that you appeared to be asleep in the driver seat of a light goods vehicle. Police officers woke you up, requested you to alight from the vehicle for a body search. They found inside your trousers pocket one plastic bag containing the drugs as set out in Charge 1. You were arrested for the offence of possession of a dangerous drug and under caution, you said, “The cocaine is for my own consumption.”

The officers then searched the light goods vehicle and found two drug-inhaling devices. You said under caution that “both ‘Ice’ pots are for my own use”. Upon a further search of the light goods vehicle, two plastic bags containing the drugs as stated in Charge 2 were found under the carpet between the driver’s seat and the front passenger seat. You were then arrested for trafficking in dangerous drugs and under caution, you said, “I intended to resell the ‘Ice’ to earn money.”

In January 2018, the estimated retail value of the drugs in the charge as stated for cocaine was HK$2,051 and for the “Ice” was $30,467.

In a video-recorded interview conducted under caution, you told the police that you had intended to resell the seized “Ice” because you needed money for getting married and you were unemployed and a person by the name of “Ko Lo” had asked you to deliver the “Ice” of which you would receive a reward of $1,000 which you had not received.

Defendant, you are 46 years of age. You have 21 previous convictions: nine for possession of dangerous drugs, two for possession of equipment for drug inhalation, and some other offences. You have achieved up to Form 3 education. You were previously a construction worker earning $20,000 a month. At the time of commission of this offence, you were engaged to be married to a 47-year-old lady who is a clerk.

Your counsel, Mr Albert Luk, has in summary stated to me that the reason for you committing these offences is because of the intense pressure you felt of getting married and the need to raise quick money.

Prior to December 2017, you had a stable income of 20,000 a month but you then were laid off at the end of December and thus was stretched for funds. You had borrowed some hundred thousand dollars from your friends to pay for your impending wedding. You had also spent money on the rings purchased for your fiancée.

Two documents from the hotel where you intended to hold your wedding ceremony were submitted in support of part of the wedding expenses as well as the invoice for the purchase of the rings. As Mr Luk has said, you now understand that is not an excuse for committing this very serious offence. However, you are remorseful and this is reflected through your early plea of guilty before the magistrate.

As can be seen from your record, you have many previous convictions for possession of dangerous drugs dating back to 1993. A social worker from SARDA, that is the Society for the Aid and Rehabilitation for Abusers, has written a letter in support of your determination to rid yourself of the dependency of drugs. The letter is dated 18 July 2018. Here he says you did attend SARDA and you had been determined to stay drug-free and the last admittance of you at SARDA was between September 2012 and December 2012. As Mr Luk says, you then relapsed into drug as a result of the intense pressure you felt from your wedding.

I am no doubt sure that you know the seriousness of committing drug-trafficking offences in Hong Kong given your past record of possession of dangerous drugs and you now, of course, know that despite the pressure you felt and the eagerness you wanted to earn quick money, this ends you up in custody again for a long time.

Through Mr Luk, you have indicated that this will be your very last time to commit an offence as you want to treasure your relationship between yourself and your fiancée. You do have the support of her, she is here today but you must be honest not only with her, with others but most importantly yourself. On the one hand, you say you were not taking drugs to the police. You were no longer taking drugs at the time of your arrest. On the other hand, you told the police that you were given the drugs for your own self-consumption for free so long as you trafficked in drugs. And Mr Man from SARDA says you are determined to kick the habit and you were not dependent on drugs, and yet there was a positive test for amphetamine in your urine for “Ice”.

Defendant, for trafficking in dangerous drugs, there are clear guidelines set down by Tam Yi Chun of which the court needs to follow.

Defendant, please stand up. Defendant, for Charge 1, possession of dangerous drugs, this is your tenth similar offence. Had you been convicted after trial, I would have imposed a sentence of 18 months’ imprisonment. Giving you full credit of one-third discount for your plea of guilty, I reduce that term to one of 12 months’ imprisonment.

For Charge 2, you were trafficking in 53.5 grammes of “Ice”, and as stated in Tam Yi Chun, that falls within the bracket of 10 to 70 grammes which warrants a term of imprisonment of between 7 to 11 years after trial. Had you been convicted after trial, defendant, I would have imposed a sentence of 9 years and 9 months’ imprisonment. Giving you full credit of one-third discount from that, you shall be sentenced to 6 years and 6 months’ imprisonment on Charge 2.

Charge 2 shall run concurrent to Charge 1, making the total term you shall serve of that is 6 years and 6 months’ imprisonment.