COURT: The defendant has pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug and one count of using an ID card relating to another in the magistrates’ court. He is committed to this court for sentence.
In the evening on 20 January 2022, the defendant who was driving a car was intercepted by police officers in Mong Kok. Upon request, the defendant provided an ID card relating to one Lau Chun-hung for inspection. Upon further search of the car, police officers found 23.9 grammes of heroin and 54.4 grammes of methamphetamine inside the glove compartment beneath the driver’s seat.
The street value was estimated to be one over HK$62,000.
In addition to the dangerous drugs found, over HK$77,000 cash was also seized. The defendant admitted that he was in possession of the dangerous drugs seized for the purpose of trafficking.
The defendant is now 45, educated up to Form 3 level. He is married and has two children living in China. He has 11 criminal records with no similar records to trafficking. Numerous opportunities have been given in the past to the defendant. Apparently, it seems that those opportunities have not been treasured. The defendant has just completed serving 33 months’ imprisonment for burglary and various trafficking offences.
Counsel from both sides have agreed that the starting point for trafficking would be one between 10 years 1 month and 10 years and 7 months. In this particular case, 10 years and 3 months will be adopted. Without further evidence pointing to the contrary, it is accepted that the defendant was acting as a simple courier on that day.
As for Count 2, the defendant did use the ID card upon request by the police. An imprisonment term of 15 months would therefore be adopted upon his guilty plea. This 15 months will be served consecutively to the imprisonment term imposed on Count 1.
The defendant will be given the usual one-third discount for his earliest plea. As such, for the two offences the defendant stands convicted, he is sentenced to 92 months’ imprisonment. No further discount would be given for the assertion that some of the drugs seized was for the defendant’s own consumption as it was admitted in the Summary of Facts that those dangerous drugs seized were for the purpose of trafficking.
This 92 months’ imprisonment term will also be served consecutively, well, in a sense consecutively to the 33 months imposed in the District Court case as the two cases are completely different in nature and time. The overall sentences would be neither crushing nor manifestly excessive.