You remained silent upon arrest, that is your right. Later though during a preliminary enquiry you said someone had given you the two suitcases in Sao Paulo and you were to hand them over to someone in a hotel in Macau for a reward of US$6,000.
Under interview, you expanded upon that explanation. You admitted that you have been asked to traffic dangerous drugs by someone called Rony for a reward of US$6,000. He gave you the drugs, told you where to go and provided you with your tickets and US$700 for expenses. You knew what you were doing and you took the risk.
The estimated street value of what you brought into Hong Kong was HK$1 million.
You were just 26 years of age at the time of this offending and married with a child and of previous good character. You told the Customs and Excise that you were a civil construction salesman earning about 4,000 Brazilian Real per month.
You were cooperative with Customs and Excise but despite having made clear admissions in interview you pleaded not guilty before the Magistrates’ Court. And in so doing you could have lost the opportunity to earn a full one-third discount on your sentence. Your acknowledgment of guilt only came to the attention of this court on 22 April 2021 after the matter had been listed for trial and would usually result in a reduction of the discount available to you.
The guideline case for trafficking in 600 to 1,200 grammes of cocaine is HKSAR v Abdallah [2009] 2 HKLRD 437. And the range of sentence is between 20 to 23 years. For 758.1 grammes of cocaine the starting point after trial is therefore 20 years and 9 months. There is also the aggravating feature that you have imported drugs into Hong Kong. According to HKSAR v Chung Ping Kun CACC 85/2014, for that amount of cocaine the enhancement would be 1 year and 6 months, making a total of 22 years and 3 months.
Both those figures are wholly consistent with the authorities and your role as a courier. However, on the last occasion you appeared before this court, Mr Whitehouse informed the court of the background to this matter. It appears that after your arrest you were truly mentally unwell. This condition must have been an underlying one at the time of this offending and added to the pressure that you were under. Your mental health was so fragile that those representing you were unable to take proper instructions for the purpose of committal proceedings which took place on 5 October 2020.
Your fragile state of mind also came quite independently to the intention of CSD in Stanley Prison and they arranged for you to have an assessment at Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre. But this was not until November 2020, some 11 months after you were remanded and after committal. That is a long time to be mentally unwell, incarcerated in a foreign jurisdiction and without family support.
It was unfortunate that you appeared before this court on 20 August 2021 without the benefit of a psychiatric report as it was clear to all concern that you had been unwell over a period of months. Fortunately by the time you appeared before this court you had been in receipt of medication.
In any event I now have three reports before me. One from Dr Sarah Tse dated 11 June 2021 and two from Dr Ho Yin-lin dated 6 December 2021 and 7 July 2022. Dr Tse saw the defendant on several occasions between February and June 2021. Much of her report is necessarily hearsay as is that of Dr Ho. But she records that when she first met the defendant, he refused to either speak or listen to her and he shut his eyes throughout the consultation. He declined oral antipsychotic medicine and received six doses of injectable haloperidol, as a result of which his condition improved and he could communicate. As at the time of writing her report, he was to receive the same medication once every four weeks. She says at the time of writing that she last saw the defendant on 9 June 2021.
Dr Ho relates much the same information which I presumed he obtained from hospital records. I do not know if Dr Ho became the defendant’s treating psychiatrist. I also do not know if the defendant continues to receive medication nor whether he will need it for the rest of his life. Dr Ho’s report of 7 July 2022 suggests he continues to be monitored and his condition is currently stable.
In addition to what I have already said, I have heard all that Mr Whitehouse has written and said on your behalf, and I have read the letter you wrote to the court dated 16 December 2021 to explain your background. I have taken all the circumstances of your background, offending and mental health into consideration and intend to reduce the starting point of 20 years and 9 months by 6 months to 20 years and 3 months. But I have to add the 1 year 6 months for the importation of these drugs which makes a total of 21 years and 9 months.
Although your plea was tendered at a late stage, you were truly mentally unwell and so I will not fault you for that. Because of what I have been told, I will give you the full one-third discount for your plea and sentence you to a term of imprisonment of 14 years and 6 months.