Read the full judgment text of CACC 000490/1999 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 21 February 2000 before Stuart-Moore, Ag CJHC, Mayo, VP, and Wong, JA.
Criminal law – drug trafficking – MDMA (ecstasy) – sentencing – Court of Appeal – retrial following quashed conviction – applicants pleaded guilty at retrial – D1 sentenced to 9 years on Count 1 – D2 sentenced to 9 years on Count 1 plus 3 years consecutive on Count 2, totalling 12 years – whether starting point of 12 years (D1) and 16 years (D2) excessive – whether one-quarter discount for guilty plea entered at retrial appropriate – HKSAR v Lee Tak-kwan [1998] 2 HKC 371 establishes sentencing guidelines for trafficking in ecstasy with quantities over 800g attracting 8 years and upwards, with increases justified only for importation, manufacture, or other aggravating circumstances – R v Ng Wing-kwong [1995] No. 62 Criminal confirms lesser discount than one-third permissible where accused did not plead guilty at first trial – full one-third discount is the norm for a timely plea – applicants were couriers with no importation, manufacture, or aggravating features – starting points of 12 and 16 years held to be inordinately high – appropriate starting point was 10 years per count, with totality giving a higher effective starting point for D2 – one-quarter discount not interfered with – appeal allowed – D1's sentence reduced to 7 1/2 years – D2's sentences reduced to 7 1/2 years on each count with 2 1/2 years consecutive on Count 2, totalling 10 years.
Legal issues: Discount for guilty plea entered at retrial · Starting point for trafficking in ecstasy under Lee Tak-kwan guidelines
Outcome: Leave to appeal granted and applications treated as the hearing; appeal allowed to the extent of reducing both applicants' sentences.
Cited by 2 cases