COURT: The defendant pleaded guilty to two charges of trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134.
He was intercepted by the police in ambush at a staircase and was found to be in possession of 15 packets of drugs in his right front trousers pocket. The defendant claimed that those drugs were for his own consumption. Further search at his residence revealed a total of 280 packets of drugs and he admitted that those were heroin which he was going to sell to make a living.
Upon analysis, the drugs on his person were found to be 4.28 grammes of a mixture containing 3.02 grammes of heroin hydrochloride whilst those in his flat were 80.7 grammes of a mixture containing 55.8 grammes of heroin hydrochloride. The market value of all the drugs concerned was in the region of HK$77,000.
The defendant is now aged 62. He has 24 previous convictions involving 31 charges, 13 of which are drugs-related. His last conviction was in 2009 for trafficking in dangerous drugs. He received a sentence of 6 years and 4 months’ imprisonment and he was discharged from prison in April 2013.
By way of mitigation, I was told that the defendant is married. His wife and her son reside in China. He used to be a street hawker but started to receive comprehensive social assistance with disability allowance since 2014. Counsel informed me that the wife of the defendant had applied for one-way permit to Hong Kong and was approved in May this year pending personal attendance of the defendant in her hometown to sign up the papers. And the fact that the defendant has been remanded for this case rendered that impossible, therefore causing hardship to the family.
Counsel also submits that according to his criminal record, it would seem that he managed to keep himself out of trouble since his last release from prison for about nine years. It is said that he has reflected deeply upon himself and aim at reunion with his wife and his wife’s son. And counsel asked me to adopt a starting point as low as possible.
In sentencing the defendant, I have considered his guilty plea and mitigation forwarded by counsel on his behalf and the existing tariff for trafficking in heroin. The total narcotics involved in the two charges is 58.82 grammes of heroin. According to the case of Lau Tak Ming, trafficking in heroin between 50 to 200 grammes, a starting point of 8 to 12 years is to be adopted. For the total amount of narcotics involved in the present case, I adopt a starting point of 99 months. I shall give him the full one-third discount for his plea. He is sentenced to a total of 66 months’ imprisonment allotted into the two charges as follows: Charge 1, 18 months; Charge 2, 5 years and 6 months; to run concurrently.