COURT: You pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in dangerous drugs, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134 and one count of possession of dangerous drugs, contrary to section 8(1)(a) and (2) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance respectively, before the Eastern Magistrates’ Court on 20 September 2021. You have confirmed both of those pleas on the previous occasion and you are formally convicted of them.
Both of these offences occurred on 8 July 2020. When the police carried out an anti-drugs operation at the Cozi Hotel in Kwun Tong; you were seen leaving Room 1518 and you were intercepted. You were found to be in possession of three transparent resealable bags which contained suspected dangerous drugs and also the paraphernalia for dividing up other drugs, as well as HK$10,000.
In interview, you told the police you had been living in that room for some 10 months, even though you said you were a housewife and were supported by your husband. You told the police that you had purchased the three bags of drugs from someone in the amusement centre. You believed two of the bags contained ‘Ice’ and one contained ketamine. You tried to suggest that the cash you had with you had been withdrawn from your bank and represented the monies from the Government cash payment scheme. I asked for confirmation of those facts and although it was forthcoming, it is quite clear to see that you have monies coming into your account which would represent the cash payment scheme. And then, within the very same day, all of those monies going out again, and very interestingly, significant sums of money coming in. All in the same day. I do not find that the cash that you had on you represented any part of the cash payment scheme from the Government.
Investigation by the police discovered that the Cozi Hotel had you registered only between 6 June and 8 July 2020. Just staying for one month and not 10 months as you suggested. But Ms Cheng explained that you had found accommodation in various hotels over the period as you could not afford the deposit for a long term rental accommodation for yourself and your boyfriend, and I accept that.
The value of the drugs that were recovered from you were just $7,146’s worth.
You were 39 years of age, educated up to Form 3 and a mother. I am told you are separated from your husband and were living with someone else at the time of your arrest. I presume that your daughter was not living with you as you say this was not rental accommodation. She appears to have been cared for by your parents. Since leaving school, you have had several casual jobs and were working part-time as a waitress when you were arrested for these offences. The current pandemic put paid to the employment that you had and that is why you turned to making a living from drugs. I have to say, from what I have seen from the financial information provided to me today, it was quite a good living.
Ms Cheng tells me that you have been a drug addict since you were 19 years old. This is made out by your criminal record which stretches from 1999, when you were just 17 years of age, to your current offending now at the age of 38. I see you were first before the court for possession of dangerous drugs in November 1999. There was a period of time when you were repeatedly before the court for offences of dishonesty but for which you received DATC, which indicates the thefts were to feed your drug habit. Your last appearance, however, was for trafficking in dangerous drugs in 2016, when you were sentenced to a period of imprisonment of 4 years. You were released from that sentence on 22 February 2019. It clearly had no effect upon you at all because a year later you were offending again.
Trafficking in 10.75 grammes of ‘Ice’ under Count 1 falls to be considered under the sentencing guidelines in HKSAR v Tam Yi Chun [2014] 3 HKLRD 691. For up to 10 to 70 grammes, the band of sentencing is 7 to 11 years. The appropriate starting point for sentence is therefore 7 years. As I have mentioned, you have a significant criminal record, directly and indirectly related to drugs. But importantly, you have recently served a period of imprisonment for trafficking in dangerous drugs and have re-commenced offending shortly after release. That is an aggravating feature of your offending and I intend to enhance your sentence by 6 months to reflect that. You must realise that re-offending will put you at ever increasing risk of larger and larger sentences.
Count 2 is for a trace amount of ketamine, presumably the contents had already been consumed according to your interview, but the court does not know how much you agreed you were in possession of originally. There will be no separate penalty for this offence.
You will go to prison on Count 1 for 7 years and 6 months. On Count 2, there will be no separate penalty. You are entitled to a one-third discount for your indication of plea at an early stage and therefore you will go to prison for 5 years.