COURT: The defendant pleaded guilty before this court on 8 February 2023 to one count of trafficking in 45.5 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride or ‘Ice’ as it is commonly called on 20 November 2019, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134.
Those drugs were found inside his bedroom. They were contained within a single resealable plastic bag which was on his bed. Approximately 100 empty, very small plastic bags were also recovered from elsewhere in the bedroom into which he would have subdivided the drugs recovered for onward sale.
The total value of the solid containing the drugs he was trafficking in was $35,308.
The defendant is now just 40 years of age. He was born in Guangdong Province but came to Hong Kong in 1995. He is divorced and now lives with his mother and younger brother on the Tin Yiu Estate in Tin Shui Wai.
This matter arose because the police had been called to the flat by his mother as a result of a dispute between her two sons. It appears that the defendant has suffered from mental ill-health and that his behaviour was such on 20 November 2019 that she felt compelled to seek help from the police.
I have been provided with written submissions from Mr Shaw and a report from a psychiatrist dated 19 April 2022, Dr Yeung Sze-wing from Castle Peak Hospital which covers the period that the defendant has been on remand. There is no doubt that the defendant’s drug abuse has caused significant damage to his neurological faculties and his personality, which continues even after a significant period on remand.
Mr Shaw submits that the defendant started abusing drugs in 2000 at the age of 17. I can see from his criminal record that he was first before the courts in 2001 and for that offence he was sent to DATC. I do not know how long he was remanded at that time, but he appeared before the courts again in 2004 for the same offence of trafficking in dangerous drugs. It would appear that his addiction and his reliance upon dangerous drugs had already set in. Mr Shaw submits and I accept that the defendant is an addict. That has resulted in him either spending further periods thereafter in DATC or in a hospital, being treated for the inevitable side-effects of that abuse.
The relevant sentencing guideline for the offence of trafficking in ‘Ice’ is HKSAR v Tam Yi Chun [2014] 3 HKLRD 691. For trafficking in between 10 to 70 grammes of ‘Ice’, the sentencing range is between 7 and 11 years. For trafficking in 45.5 grammes of ‘Ice’, the starting point is therefore 9 years and 4 months.
I will not enhance that starting point to reflect his previous record. This matter was however committed for trial and it was listed for trial. The defendant indicated his intention to plead guilty on 21 December 2022 and is therefore not entitled to a full one-third discount for his late plea. However, court time has been saved even if his plea is late and therefore he is entitled to a discount of 25 percent from the original starting point.
As a result, the defendant will go to prison for a period of 7 years.