HKSAR v. Dabao Michelle Anderson

HCCC 240/2019

[2019] HKCFI 3151

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 240 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, Ms Dabao Michelle Anderson, pleaded guilty to one charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug during the committal proceedings. The offence is contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Chapter 134. The particulars of offence are that the defendant on the 17th day of October 2018, at Unit 13 of Flat A, 7th Floor, Man Foong Industrial Building, No 7 Cheung Lee Street, Chai Wan in Hong Kong, unlawfully trafficked in a dangerous drug, namely, 167 grammes of a mixture containing 138 grammes of heroin hydrochloride.

She is committed to this court for sentence.

Facts admitted

On 17 October 2018, at about 0910 hours, the defendant entered Unit 13 of Flat A, 7th Floor, Man Foong Industrial Building, 7 Cheung Lee Street, Chai Wan. When the door of the unit was opened at about 0923 hours, Customs officers entered the unit and found the defendant holding an A4-size document bag, a handbag and a mobile telephone. Inside the document bag, there was a large resealable plastic bag containing 6 plastic bags containing a total of 167 grammes of mixture containing 138 grammes of heroin hydrochloride.

The defendant was arrested and she said under caution that she did not know what was inside the document bag. She had collected the bag next to a garbage bin in Shau Kei Wan and brought it to the unit on the instruction of a person called ‘Fei Chai’ whom she had no means of contact. Fei Chai would call her to tell her how to deal with the bag. The reward for her was $2,000. The unit had been rented by the defendant and only she had the password to access the unit.

A number of items were also found inside the unit, including 3 empty document bags of the same type the defendant was found holding in the unit, a number of resealable plastic bags and 3 pairs of plastic gloves. 2 mobile telephones and cash $46.60 were found on the person of the defendant. The defendant remained silent in the video-recorded interview conducted subsequently.

The estimated street value of the dangerous drug seized as of October 2018 was approximately $117,234.

Criminal record

The defendant has a clear criminal record.

Mitigation

The defendant is aged 42, married with a daughter aged 17. She was a waitress earning $13,000 a month before arrest. Counsel for the defendant tells the court that the defendant encountered a traffic accident in 2017 and was hospitalised for 4 to 5 months after surgery. As she suffered occasional pain from the surgery after discharge from the hospital, she could not work and had no income. As she did not want to bother her husband, she borrowed money from the loan sharks. She also started to abuse the dangerous drug, ‘Ice’. Through some unscrupulous acquaintances, she was led into the present case for which she now feels extremely remorseful.

Counsel for the defendant submits to court letters of mitigation of the defendant, her husband and a reverend. The defendant asks for a lenient sentence so that she can be released early to reunite with her husband and daughter and to take care of them. She is determined not to offend the law again. The husband says in the letter that the defendant is a spoiled child and is easily manipulated by others. She is genuinely remorseful and will not break the law again.

The reverend says in the letter that the defendant has already learnt a bitter lesson and is making good progress in her Christian faith showing a positive attitude for rehabilitation. Both the defendant’s husband and the reverend ask for leniency of the court.

Counsel for the defendant also submits to court a certificate showing that the defendant has completed a course of English grammar for beginners while in prison. The counsel stresses that the defendant has pleaded guilty to the offence showing remorsefulness on her part. He asks the court to adopt a low starting point in the sentence of the defendant.

Sentence

According to R v Lau Tak Ming and Others, [1990] 2 HKLR 370, the starting point for trafficking in 50 to 100 grammes of heroin hydrochloride is 8 to 12 years. 138 grammes of heroin hydrochloride is involved in the present case and the starting point, as rightly pointed out by the counsel for the defendant, is approximately 10 years 4 months imprisonment.

Although the counsel has put forward on behalf of the defendant all her mitigating circumstances, they are in a case of such a serious nature of limited value. The court is of the view that there is no justification to depart from the sentencing tariffs, thus adopting 10 years 4 months imprisonment as the starting point.

Giving credit to the defendant for her plea of guilty, the court sentences her to 6 years 10 months imprisonment.