HKSAR v. Leung Pui Hong

HCCC 214/2019

[2020] HKCFI 899

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 214 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 had pleaded guilty in the lower court to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, namely, 2,802 grammes of a mixture containing 2,434 grammes of heroin hydrochloride. The facts, all too simple and unfortunate these days, are that the defendant was intercepted on the street in Sha Tin and in his unlocked suitcase which he was carrying were found six plastic bags containing the dangerous drugs in this case.

The defendant under caution said that he had taken the drugs from the airport to Sha Tin for someone and that he was promised a reward of $30,000. In his video-recorded interview, he claimed that he was asked by a person called “Fox” to collect the drugs from a toilet inside the airport after he had returned from Malaysia.

He claimed that he was told to proceed to Sha Tin where he would be contacted again as to where he could deliver the drugs. Not surprisingly, he was never contacted again and he was arrested. The six bags inside the bag was examined by the Government Chemist and found to contain the total amount of drugs which is elucidated in the charge.

The estimated street value of those drugs was around $2,471,364.

The defendant’s DNA was found on two of the six packets.

The defendant is age 20 and has one previous conviction of possession of dangerous drugs in 2013 when he was sentenced with a probation order for 15 months. It is clear that the defendant has been on a slippery slope to today because not only did he leave school after Form 1, he was only working as a part-time porter. The defendant is of a young age. Unfortunately, he has chosen this way to earn his money rather than through hard work.

So for the amount of $30,000, he is going to spend over 10 years in prison. The defendant will have plenty of time to consider if it was all worth it.

As Ms Lee pointed out, the Court of Appeal has laid down sentencing guidelines in relation to this amount of drugs in the case of Abdallah [2009] 2 HKC 197. The Court of Appeal noted that for trafficking in between 1,200 to 4,000 grammes, the recommended sentence would be 23 to 26 years after trial. So an appropriate starting point in this case would be in the region of 24 to 24½ years.

Taking everything I have said into account, I consider that a proper starting point in this case would be 24 years and giving the defendant the full one-third discount for his early plea, the sentence he will serve is 16 years’ imprisonment.