COURT: The defendant has pleaded guilty at the committal stage to a charge that on the 11th day of July 2021, in Kwai Chung, he trafficked in a dangerous drug, namely, 397.7 grammes of a solid containing 381.7 grammes of cocaine.
From the facts admitted by him at the committal stage, it can be seen that he got on board a taxi at around 8.50 on 11 July 2021 and went to Fa Po Street, Kowloon where he picked up a bag from a private car outside No. 53 of Fa Po Street. He then returned to the taxi and proceeded to Sheung Kok Street in Kwai Chung, and the taxi pulled over at a roundabout at around 9 o’clock.
Around that time, a police vehicle on patrol spotted the taxi. Police officers saw the defendant at the left rear passenger seat of the taxi. They noticed that the defendant appeared to be frightened and lowered his head. Suspecting that the defendant was in possession of dangerous drugs, police asked him to alight the taxi. At the same time, police saw the defendant holding a piece of tissue in his hands and have a bag between his calves. He did not obey the police officer. Police officer opened the door of the taxi and grabbed hold of the defendant’s hand.
It was found that the tissue which the defendant was holding contained a vacuum bag in which it was later confirmed contained 24 grammes of a solid containing 22.5 grammes of cocaine. From the bag that was placed between his calves, police found another 19 plastic bags of cocaine. So in total, with the one in his hand, there were 20 plastic bags containing a total of 397.7 grammes of a solid containing 381.7 grammes of cocaine. As seen under caution, he admitted that he was delivering ‘coke’ as he wanted to earn money.
It was advanced before me this morning he was unemployed at the time. He wanted to earn money to help with family expenses and, in particular, the debt of his mother. I must say I do not feel I can accept that as the reason for committing the present offence. It is more likely that because of his own drug addiction, he had to earn money to support his vice habit. He admitted that he was a drug addict before the court in August 2021, and that was after the commission of the present offence.
Be that as it may, I will not enhance the sentence I am going to impose because of my suspicion. Ironically, he is a victim of the crime that he himself committed.
He is now 22 years of age. He came from a broken family. Parents divorced when he was 4 to 5 years old. He did not have much guidance from the parents.
From the record and also from my clarification with the defendant and the prosecution and -- he first committed or ran into trouble in April 2021 for criminally damaging three properties. He was involved in a debt collection on that occasion and damaged three properties. No doubt he was paid to do that. He was granted bail for that. While he was on bail, he committed another offence of possession of dangerous drugs. The day of offence for the possession of dangerous drugs is on 16 May 2021.
Less than two months later, while he was on bail for those criminal damages and possession of dangerous drugs, he committed the present offence. This I take it an aggravating factor in sentencing for the present offence.
He did not finish Form 4 education but he managed to be gainfully employed until 2019. No doubt I would accept that he mixed with undesirable peers, and as I say, because of his vice habit, he needed money badly. Hence, under the influence of the undesirable peers, he committed the criminal damages and the present offence.
In coming to the proper sentence, I am guided by the Court of Appeal in Herry Jane Yusuph [2021] 1 HKLRD 290. The first step is I have to identify the relevant guidelines applicable to the quantity and the drugs concerned in this case. The Court of Appeal in Abdallah [2009] 2 HKLRD 437, the Court of Appeal has said that the guideline in Lau Tak Ming for heroin, that the guideline for heroin is applicable to cocaine.
According to the guideline, you fall into the bracket of 200 grammes to 400 grammes of narcotics which call for 12 to 15 years of imprisonment. Given the narcotic content in this case, which is 381-odd grammes of cocaine, your case is in the top end of that 12 to 15 years.
Next, I assess your role and culpability based on the evidence before me. From the facts, you picked up the drugs from a private car and you travelled in a taxi. I put you into the category of courier, being the lowest rank in the hierarchy of trafficking in dangerous drugs.
I then have to decide within the band that I have said, within that band where you should be placed. As I have said before, you committed the present offence while you were on bail for other matters. As there is an aggravating factor, I could have enhanced the sentence (12 to 15 years). In Yusuph, the Court of Appeal said:
“Personal circumstances were of far less importance than denunciation, deterrence and punishment in cases of trafficking in dangerous drugs. For these reasons, consistence was very important.”
In fact, earlier, in the case of Abdallah, the Court of Appeal had also said, “Given the grievousness of the offence, meaningful mitigation, apart from a plea of guilty, was rarely available.”
You are a young man of 22 years of age, still have a very long life ahead waiting for you. Despite I do not accept the reason for committing the present offence, I am glad that you still have the support from your family as I can see from the letters that they have written on your behalf, in particular, your mother. I hope you would treasure this support from your family.
Being as merciful as I can, I will not enhance the 12 to 15 years laid down. I will adopt a starting point, 15 years. You pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity, and other than that, I can see no other mitigating factor. As I said, in fact, I could only see aggravating factor. I give you a full one-third discount for your plea.
So, Mr Yip, please stand up. I sentence you to 10 years’ imprisonment. You are still young. You have the support of family members. I hope you can live up to your promise in the letter that you have written to court. Hope when you are released from prison, you can start a new leaf. Thank you.