HKSAR v. Tsui Lok Hin

HCCC 305/2018

[2019] HKCFI 1695

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 305 OF 2018

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Transcript of the Audio Recording

of the Sentence in the above Case

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COURT:

Mr Tsui, you have been found guilty after trial on two counts of trafficking in dangerous drugs, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134. You are to be sentenced on Count 1 for trafficking in 757 grammes of cocaine and on Count 2 for trafficking in 27.1 grammes of cocaine.

Although they are charged on different days, they form part and parcel of the same drug-trafficking scheme operated by you and others, and I intend to deal with them as such.

You are connected in some way to Flat 11B, Tower 6 of Mont Vert. Although you were not the tenant, utility bills were recovered in your name and you had the keys to the flat. Your fingerprint was found on one of the cooking pots in the kitchen. It matters not whether you were actually living there as you admitted having come from that flat at the time that you were intercepted by Customs and Excise on 13 January 2018 and you were observed over a period of time mixing with a number of other people coming to and fro from the flat. That flat was being used to make crack cocaine.

The items recovered clearly indicate that that was the case. Some of the cocaine used to make the crack cocaine was recovered from the kitchen of the flat, and that is the cocaine that forms the basis of Count 2.

Mr Lau admitted his guilt at the first opportunity. The drugs found within the bag P1, which he was seen to carry from the 11th floor to deposit outside of Tower 5, were in bags identical to the ones recovered from Flat 11B. They were quite distinctive in that they had 25.33 grammes handwritten in western script on each and every one of them. The same handwritten script was on the bags found within the kitchen.

Under caution, you accepted the dangerous drugs under both counts belonged to you and that they were being dispatched by you through Lau and another man called Leung.

The estimated street value of the cocaine under Count 1 at the time was $1,128,864 and the value of the cocaine under Count 2 was $36,960.

There was a lot of money there for a group of young people and no doubt you did not think about the consequences of your action upon yourselves, your family or those who wished to buy the drugs from you.

You are a Hong Kong identity card holder. You are 20 years of age and you are only just an adult and you are of previous good character. You say you were unemployed at the time of this offending, although I do note that you must have had some employment. At some stages, you had your MPF account.

I have heard what Mr Cheng has said on your behalf and I am sure you are now remorseful for what you have done and the effect it has had on your family who clearly love you as they have been here throughout the trial in order to give you support.

The guideline case for trafficking in between 600 and 1,200 grammes of cocaine is HKSAR v Abdallah [2009] 2 HKLRD 437 and the range of sentence for that amount is between 20 to 23 years. For 757 grammes of cocaine, I consider the appropriate starting point after trial in this case to be one of 20 years and 6 months.

You were found guilty after trial and are therefore not entitled to any discount from that sentence. Unfortunately, you will have to go to prison for 20 years and 6 months on Count 1.

Under HKSAR v Lau Tak Ming [1990] HKLR 370, for smaller quantities of cocaine between 10 and 50 grammes, the sentencing ranges between 5 and 8 years. The starting point after trial for 27.1 grammes would therefore be 6 years and 3 months, so I take the view that this is one operation and one parcel of dangerous drugs and so I sentence you to a term of imprisonment on Count 1 of 20 years and 6 months and on Count 2 to 6 years and 3 months to be served wholly concurrently with Count 1.

The total sentence is therefore 20 years and 6 months.