Wong Kei v. The Queen

Read the full judgment text of CACC 351/1971 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment.

1. The Appellant was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment for unlawful possession of dangerous drugs. He appeals against sentence. He pleaded guilty and admitted that he had been found with one packet of dangerous drugs in one of his socks.

Case No.CACC 351/1971
Court
Court of Appeal
Date
Judge
Case Document
100%Judiciary

CACC000351/1971

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF HONG KONG

(APPELLATE JURISDICTION)

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 351 OF 1971

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BETWEEN
WONG KEI Appellant
and
THE QUEEN Respondent

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Coram: Huggins, J.

Date of Judgment: 15th July, 1971.

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JUDGMENT

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1. The Appellant was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment for unlawful possession of dangerous drugs. He appeals against sentence. He pleaded guilty and admitted that he had been found with one packet of dangerous drugs in one of his socks.

2. He has been before the courts on twenty-one previous occasions, on most of those occasions for a multiplicity of offences. On twelve of these occasions he was charged with offences under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance. He has been put on a recognizance on several occasions and on each of them has been in breach.

3. The learned Magistrate obtained a report from a Probation Officer, which shows that the Appellant has no real desire to give up his addiction. There is a passage in the third paragraph of the Statement of Findings which I am unable to understand and I think it may be that a line has been omitted in typing. However, it does appear from the Statement that the learned Magistrate thought that the short periods of imprisonment which this Appellant had had having proved ineffective what he needed was a long spell in prison, which, as he described it, would give him a chance of "drying out". The Appellant was arrested only a very short time after his last release from prison.

4. I think the sentence imposed was correct and the appeal is dismissed.

15th July, 1971.

Representation: