COURT: Lau Yik-shing, you have pleaded guilty under Count 1 to trafficking in 211.68 grammes of ketamine, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134 and under Count 2 on the indictment, you pleaded guilty to trafficking in 58.9 grammes of ketamine and 0.68 grammes of cocaine.
Those drugs were recovered by the police on 23 April 2020. You were observed entering the Alhambra Building in Yau Ma Tei carrying a brown paper bag and you were intercepted for a personal search. Within the brown bag, the police found 210 grammes of ketamine in one resealable plastic bag and just 1.68 grammes in another.
On arrest and caution at that point you said the drugs belonged to you and that you were to pass the drugs onto someone else. At that time, you were found to also be in possession of a key card to a hotel room and when that room was searched, the ketamine and a small amount of cocaine which falls to be considered under Count 2 were found. They also found drug paraphernalia for the division and packaging of dangerous drugs that had traces of ketamine.
On further arrest and caution you again accepted that those drugs belonged to you and that you were trafficking in them and I have taken that into consideration, the fact that it was a small operation and that you were full and frank at the scene of arrest.
The estimated street value of the whole of the drugs recovered was approximately HK$161,000.
You were just 22 years old at the time of your offending and you were single, living with your parents and siblings. You were educated up to Primary 6 and you had a job as a construction worker earning $20,000 per month. But you did have a criminal record and it was for trafficking in dangerous drugs in 2016 at which time you received a training centre order. You served 17 months under that order. I do not have any other details about that offending and you were quite young at the actual time of offending as opposed to disposal of the matter. I do not intend to enhance the sentence I am to pass upon you because of your criminal record.
There are a number of letters before me. They show that you are truly remorseful for what you have done and the effect it has had on your family. More significantly, other letters from members of the clergy and from your employer indicate that there is more to you than we see within your criminal record.
As Mr Arthur has said, we can be cautiously optimistic for your future as you have responded to your time on remand positively and you have sought to improve yourself. I have taken that into consideration when looking at a just and fair disposal of this case.
Although two different types of drugs were recovered, the ketamine was overwhelmingly the largest of the two in quantity and it is clear that the drugs were from the same source.
The guideline authority for the sentencing of ketamine is HKSAR v Hii Siew Cheng [2009] 1 HKLRD 1 which states that for between 50 and 300 grammes of ketamine, the starting point after trial for sentencing after trial would be in the range of 6 to 9 years. And therefore for 211.68 grammes under Count 1, the starting point would be in the region of 7 years and 11 months.
Under Count 2, the starting point after trial under the same authority would be in the region of 6 years and 1 month. But if I consider it as a total amount, and again under the same authority, the starting point after trial would be 8 years and 8 months.
The sentencing guideline for the 0.68 grammes of cocaine falls to be considered under HKSAR v Lau Tak Ming [1990] HKLR 370, which states that the starting point after trial for up to 10 grammes is 2 to 5 years. For 0.68 grammes, the starting point is therefore 2 years.
There is also the issue of latent risk when trafficking in more than one drug and I consider an enhancement to Count 2 of 2 months to be appropriate, making a total if I simply added them together of 8 years and 3 months, that is the ketamine added with the cocaine and the latent risk.
The courts are urged to consider a variety of approaches to sentencing when someone is found in possession of more than one type of drug and I have considered and I have calculated all of the various approaches and I have reminded myself the relevant principles but I am not about to go through an exercise of explaining how I did that here. You will of course receive a one-third discount for your early plea of guilty.
On Count 1, you will go to prison for 5 years and 3 months. On Count 2, you will go to prison for 5 years and 6 months. 9 months of that will be served consecutively with your term of imprisonment on Count 1. You will go to prison therefore for a total of 6 years.