HKSAR v. Lau Shing Fung
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HCCC 394/2024 [2025] HKCFI 3379 IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE CRIMINAL CASE NO 394 OF 2024 -----------------
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--------------------------------- Transcript of the Audio Recording
COURT: The defendant pleads guilty to one count of trafficking in dangerous drugs. At about 4.14 pm on 3 November 2022, the residential flat of the defendant in Nai Wai Village, Tuen Mun, was searched in his presence and 25 packets containing a total of 25,040 grammes of a solid containing 21,330 grammes of cocaine was found. In addition, a black box was found in a cupboard containing an electronic scale, a pair of scissors, a plastic spoon, and a number of transparent resealable plastic bags. Under caution, the defendant admitted that he had just received the 25 packets of drugs and he would follow the instructions of a person named KK to deliver the drugs to clients. In his video-recorded interview, the defendant elaborated how he came to know KK and the way he trafficked drugs for KK. KK offered to him $800 to $1,500 per job. He had received $9,000 from KK. The street value of the drugs seized in the defendant’s flat was about $36,783,760. The defendant is now 28 years old. He has a clear record. In mitigation, Mr Lo, counsel for the defendant, submitted that the defendant’s biological mother is a drug addict. The defendant’s father was imprisoned when the defendant was only 10 years old. The defendant left school after he completed Form 6 education in Hong Kong but did not sit in the DSE examination. He started working as a part-time construction site worker when he first entered the workforce. Later, he worked as a western chef, earning $30,000 per month. Mr Lo submitted that the defendant was working hard and had saved about $300,000 and he used that $300,000 to invest in a business of a party room together with a friend. But it turned out that the defendant was betrayed by the friend and the friend asked him to put in another $300,000 into the business. And as a result, the defendant not only lost the $300,000 but also incurred a large amount of debt which he has to repay. The defendant then worked as a part-time warehouse keeper and he was induced by his colleagues in the warehouse to earn easy money by trafficking in drugs. The defendant has himself written a letter to the court setting out his family background and how he came to commit this serious offence. He said that he has now learnt a hard lesson and hoped that this court can give him a lenient sentence so that he can turn a new leaf to his life as soon as possible. Mr Leung, ministry officer of the Hong Kong Christian Kun Sun Association Limited wrote a letter to the court verifying what the defendant said in his letter. In considering the appropriate sentence for trafficking in cocaine, I made reference to the judgments of the Court of Appeal in HKSAR v Herry Jane Yusuph [2021] 1 HKLRD 290 and HKSAR v Huang Ruifang [2025] 2 HKLRD 138. The quantity of cocaine involved in the present case was 21,330 grammes. It is a huge quantity. Under Huang Ruifang, the starting point for trafficking in cocaine for 15,000 to 30,000 grammes should be 27 to 30 years’ imprisonment. I accept the submission of Mr Lo, counsel for the defendant, that for the purpose of sentencing, I should consider the defendant’s role as a courier or storekeeper. However, apart from his guilty plea, I do not see any other valid mitigating factors in this case. As I said, the quantity involved in this case is huge and the appropriate sentence depends very much on the quantity involved in a drug trafficking offence. In the premises, I adopt the starting point of 28 years and 3 months’ imprisonment, and taking into account the defendant’s guilty plea, the sentence is reduced to 18 years and 10 months’ imprisonment. |
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