HKSAR v. Chan Chi Shing

HCCC 98/2019

[2019] HKCFI 2004

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 98 OF 2019

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Transcript of the Audio Recording

of the Sentence in the above Case

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COURT:

The defendant has pleaded guilty to one charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug, namely 94.8 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 91.2 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, 1.94 grammes of a solid containing 1.42 grammes of cocaine and 6.31 grammes of a solid containing 5.06 grammes of ketamine.

The facts that are all too common these days. It is that on the evening -- on the night of 16 July last year, the defendant was seen walking around the street when he was intercepted. Upon a search, hidden inside the defendant’s underpants were found the drugs, which is the subject matter of the charge. The methamphetamine hydrochloride were packed in seven transparent plastic bags. The cocaine were packed in 10 transparent plastic bags and the ketamine was packed in five transparent plastic bags.

Under caution, the defendant admitted that he was helping somebody called Ming to deliver the dangerous drugs to Shek Lei Estate for $3,000 reward. Nothing suspicious was found at the defendant’s home. Under video-recorded interview he gave an account of how he went to pick up the drugs and how Ming contacted him and who he would be meeting, this person called Ah Chung whom he would be delivering the drugs to. The total retail value of all the drugs comes to approximately $56,500.

The defendant is aged 20. He has previous convictions on seven charges but none drug-related. In mitigation Mr Shaw has put forward the fact that the defendant was living with his mother and younger brother and that he came from a broken family. Letter from the defendant shows that he is trying to better himself by studying English whilst on remand. There is a letter from the defendant’s mother testifying to the fact that the defendant is a filial son. And finally, a letter from the pastor of the Christian Prison Pastoral Association who testifies to the fact that the defendant has been attending religious studies whilst in Pik Uk.

Well, I certainly hope that the defendant is determined to better himself and, in fact, become an asset to his mother rather than a liability. I have looked at the tariff the Court of Appeal has laid down for sentencing in drug trafficking cases. In the case of HKSAR v Tam Yi Chun [2014] 3 HKLRD 691, the Court of Appeal has laid down the guideline that for sentencing in methamphetamine hydrochloride, for trafficking in 70 to 300 grammes the starting point sentence should be 11 to 15 years.

The drugs in the charge, the majority is methamphetamine hydrochloride. So I have decided to adopt the combined approach by adding up all the drugs together and sentencing it under the methamphetamine hydrochloride guideline. So the total amount of drugs would be 97.68 grammes. So following the Tam Yi Chun guideline would merit a starting point sentence of 11 to 11½ years.

Whilst I have great sympathy for the family of the defendant, nevertheless drug trafficking is an evil trade and the drugs that are allowed, if not detected, to be distributed in society causes a lot of harm to other families in Hong Kong. Taking into consideration the fact that this is the defendant’s first drug offence, the background and his early confession to the police as a sign of his true remorse, I will adopt the lesser of the two starting points and adopt the 11 years starting point. Giving him the full one-third discount for his plea, the defendant is sentenced to 7 years and 4 months.