COURT: Wong Tik-wai, you pleaded guilty in the Eastern Magistrates’ Court on 14 December 2020 to one count of trafficking in dangerous drugs, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134 and in doing so, you accepted that you had trafficked in a total of 839 grammes of ketamine and you have confirmed that plea today.
The details of your offending have been reduced to a Summary of Facts which has been read out in court by Mr Chau and which you have agreed. You were the intended recipient of a parcel from Malaysia in which was secreted ketamine. The parcel was addressed to you and you were the one who attempted to collect it from the Tuen Mun Post Office on 27 June 2019, and then returned on 28 June to do so at which point you were arrested. As is your right, you provided no further information about that to assist Customs and Excise.
As you have heard, the street value of the drugs at that time was approximately HK$591,090. That is a great deal of money.
You are now 26 years of age and before this arrest you lived with your mother and your brother and you were working as an apprentice cook earning approximately $10,000 per month. Mr Ho has informed the court through his written mitigation that you had been taking drugs since you were 19, about the same time as we you first appeared before the court.
I have read your letter and I have looked at the supporting documentation you have provided. You have two matters on your criminal record, one of them, the first, is similar in nature as it also involved trafficking in dangerous drugs in 2015 when you would have been approximately 20 when you were dealt with, perhaps 19 when you were offending, and you received a detention centre order at that time. But you were convicted again in 2019 for a dissimilar matter but you were sentenced to 4 weeks’ imprisonment and discharged on 30 April 2019.
But this offending was only eight weeks later, in fact, six weeks if you take into account the fact that you were setting it all up. So both of those matters, the fact that you had previously been dealt with for trafficking in dangerous drugs and the fact that you immediately committed further offences do aggravating, at first blush, the sentence that I should be considering passing upon you.
These are serious matters. It has been said by the Court of Appeal on many occasions and by this court on many occasions that there is little personal mitigation which can reduce the sentence which a court must normally pass upon you. Other young people, especially, must be deterred from following your example.
For trafficking in ketamine, the sentencing guidelines after trial are set out in Secretary for Justice v Hii Siew Cheng [2009] 1 HKLRD 1. For between 600 and 1,000 grammes, the starting point after trial is 12 to 14 years and for trafficking in 839 grammes of ketamine, the starting point after trial is therefore 13 years and 2 months.
For the aggravating feature of having previously been found guilty of trafficking in dangerous drugs, you were young, and I accept what Mr Ho has urged upon the court and I will not add any additional period of imprisonment for committing a further offence of trafficking in dangerous drugs but for carrying out this crime almost immediately after having served a sentence of imprisonment, I do intend to add 1 month, making 13 years and 3 months in total.
That is intended to remind you and others that there can be consequences for repeat offending and for the fact that you show absolutely no remorse or rehabilitation when you commit offences immediately after having served a sentence of imprisonment. It is a reminder not to continue to offend when you are ultimately released because the next time, you will receive a greater sentence as a result of your similar criminal record and your sentences will become longer and longer. Take this opportunity to reflect on what you want your life to be. I believe from your letter that you are already realising the consequences of your actions.
There is, however, also the additional element of the cross-border trafficking in which you played an important part when you agreed to receive this parcel. In accordance with HKSAR v Chan Ka Yiu [2018] HKCA 410, I intend to enhance the starting point by 6 months, making 13 years and 9 months in total. You have pleaded guilty at the first opportunity. That is to your credit and I will give you a one-third discount for that plea.
You will therefore go to prison for 9 years and 2 months.