HKSAR v. Wong Yut Wah

HCCC 259/2018

[2019] HKCFI 1129

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 259 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 20 August 2018, you pleaded guilty to two charges of trafficking in dangerous drugs before a magistrate. You were committed for sentence to the Court of First Instance.

In respect of the 1st charge of trafficking in dangerous drugs, you have admitted that on 26 September 2017 at Room 8, 1st Floor, No. 41, Tai Po Road, Sham Shui Po, you unlawfully trafficked in 10,379.4 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 10,247.3 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride.

And in respect of the 2nd charge, that charge, you admitted that on 27 September 2017, inside a private car bearing registration number UC6361 parked outside No. 41, Tai Po Road, Sham Shui Po, you unlawfully trafficked in 52.6 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 52.6 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride.

At about 20.20 hours on 26 September, whilst police officers were conducting anti-narcotics operation at Tai Po Road, they saw you driving a private car, registration number UC6361 and then parked it outside 41 Tai Po Road. You alighted from the car and went into the building at 41 Tai Po Road.

At about 20.35 hours the same day, they saw you holding a metal can in your right hand walking on the 1st floor corridor of the staircase. You were intercepted and searched. Found inside the metal can that you were carrying were 11 plastic bags containing a total of 260 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 257 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride. You were arrested and cautioned for trafficking in dangerous drugs. You had nothing to say.

Upon a further search, the police found a bunch of keys, two mobile phones and cash of $11,918.50 and Chinese money RMB 635.

Upon inquiry with you, you said you lived in Room H on the 1st floor. The police then gained entry using the keys seized from you and also executed a search warrant of those premises. The search was conducted in the room in your presence.

Inside the room, the police found the remainder of the drugs in Charge 1. Some 16 bags were found which contained 3,403 grammes of crystalline solid containing 3,371 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride. In a briefcase, a further 109 plastic packets containing 1,834.50 grammes of crystalline solid containing 1,804.2 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride were found and inside a floral box, a further four plastic bags containing 411.9 grammes of crystalline solid containing 405.1 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride were found. Inside that floral box was also found two plastic bags containing wads of resealable plastic bags and a pile of transparent resealable plastic bags, an electronic scale and a roll of adhesive tape. A further two plastic bags were found, one with a black recycle bag containing four plastic bags containing 1,890 grammes of crystalline solid containing 1,860 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride and another plastic bag containing three plastic bags containing 2,580 grammes of crystalline solid containing 2,550 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride. Two sealing machines were also found.

You were arrested and cautioned for trafficking in dangerous drugs of the drugs found in the room. You told the police that the room was rented by your girlfriend for you but she did not live there and all the dangerous drugs ‘Ice’ inside the room belonged to you and had nothing to do with your girlfriend. Those facts form the facts in support of Charge 1.

At 2.45 am on 27 September, you were taken back down to the ground floor outside 41 Tai Po Road so that your private car could be searched. In the car, more drugs were found which form the quantity in Charge 2 which were contained in six plastic bags, and they were found in a compartment dashboard between the driver and front passenger seat.

Cash of $3,020 was found in the vicinity of the gear stick and cash of $10,000 was found in the glove compartment of the front passenger seat. You were arrested and cautioned again for trafficking in dangerous drugs and you told the police that all the dangerous drugs searched from your car belonged to you.

In a video-recorded interview taken under caution, in summary, you said that you used that room to store dangerous drugs. You had taken an empty metal can from the car and went up to the room to get the dangerous drugs to sell to others. You were taking the drugs to put into the car for reselling. You purchased the ‘Ice’ from the mainland, other people would buy it for you and you would ask them to split the drugs to bring it back to Hong Kong. You would purchase normally 1 kilogramme of ‘Ice’ which would cost a little over RMB 40,000. You had repackaged the drugs after purchasing it and would sell the drugs for $4,500 per ounce, which is approximately 28 grammes. Your customers would pay you cash for the drugs. You confirmed the electronic scale, the two sealers and empty transparent resealable bags were used to pack dangerous drugs for delivery.

The estimated market retail value of the drugs seized was $3,432,128.

Defendant, you are 65 years of age but will be turning 66 shortly. You have 14 previous convictions of which four are similar to trafficking in dangerous drugs, one of conspiracy to trafficking in dangerous drugs, one of conspiracy to manufacture dangerous drugs.

Your initial brush with the law of trafficking in dangerous drugs came in 1995 to which you were sentenced then to 15 years’ imprisonment. In 1997, you were convicted of conspiracy to traffic in dangerous drugs and conspiracy to manufacture dangerous drugs and another of trafficking in dangerous drugs. On each of those charges you were sentenced to 20 years and 15 years respectively. 9 years of that term was to be served consecutively to the 15 years in 1995.

In 2013, you were then sentenced for another offence of trafficking in dangerous drugs, to which you were sentenced to 3½ years’ imprisonment. You were last discharged from prison on 7 February 2015.

Mr Caesar Lo, your counsel, has informed me that you have committed this offence once again because of your addiction to ‘Ice’ and because of the fact that you are unable to sustain gainful employment because of a serious back injury which you sustained when you were 6 years old. As you are advancing in years, your condition is deteriorating.

You were previously supported by your wife and son and of course at the time of this offence, you were unemployed. Your wife and sister are now present in court, clearly supporting you despite your very serious previous brushes with the law.

You are undoubtedly a man who is well familiar with the seriousness of trafficking in dangerous drugs. You have served much of your senior years within the prison bars. You have clearly been trafficking in very large amounts, both before and in this case. Shortly after your release from prison, you committed the same offence again. You do not seem to have learned from your previous lengthy incarcerations. You have gambled with your own life by trafficking in huge amounts of ‘Ice’.

As Mr Lo has said, you clearly know and realized that you will be facing a lengthy term of imprisonment. Your age is not a mitigating factor. What is a mitigating factor is your early plea of guilty. You pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. Mr Lo has informed me that you have attempted to assist the authorities but nothing positive has come from that. Therefore, the only real mitigation is of course your plea of guilty, and for that you shall be awarded the full one-third discount from the starting point.

Defendant, in sentencing you for these two charges, I shall take into account, firstly, the total amount of drugs in both charges and come to a total sentence, and then sentence you individually for each charge. Both charges involve the drug commonly referred to as ‘Ice’. The relevant guideline authority in sentencing for trafficking in ‘Ice’ is that of Tam Yi Chun for amounts less than 600 grammes and the case of Abdallah for amounts over 600 grammes.

The total quantity of drugs in Charge 1 was 10,247.3 grammes and in Charge 2 is 52.6 grammes. The total quantity of ‘Ice’, therefore in both charges, is 10,299.9 grammes. In Abdallah, for amounts of between 4,000 to 15,000 grammes, a starting point of between 26 years to 30 years is appropriate. For the amount of 10,299.9 grammes of ‘Ice’, had you been convicted after trial, defendant, an appropriate starting point would have been one of 28 years and 3 months’ imprisonment. Giving you full credit for your plea of guilty of one-third discount, that term shall be reduced to 18 years and 10 months’ imprisonment to which you shall be so sentenced.

In Charge 1, defendant, had you been convicted after trial, I would have taken a starting point of 28 years and 3 months’ imprisonment and that sentence has been reduced to one of 18 years and 10 months’ imprisonment.

For Charge 2, in following Tam Yi Chun, the amount of 52.6 grammes, the sentence range for between 10 and 70 grammes is that of 7 to 11 years’ imprisonment as a starting point after trial.

Had you been convicted after trial in Charge 2, I would have taken a starting point of 9 years and 9 months’ imprisonment, giving you the full one-third discount for your plea of guilty, that term is reduced to one of 6 years and 6 months’ imprisonment to which you will be sentenced in Charge 2.

To reflect your total sentence of 18 years and 10 months’ imprisonment, Charge 2 shall run concurrent to Charge 1. Defendant, despite your poor previous criminal record and this being your sixth offence related to trafficking or manufacturing in dangerous drugs, I shall not enhance your sentence, because the term to which you are serving is very substantial. Although, of course, your previous convictions are matters of grave aggravating factors, I exercise my discretion in not taking that into account.