Read the full judgment text of CACC 000146/2006 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 11 July 2006 before Hon Stuart-Moore VP, Stock JA and Burrell J.
Criminal law – trafficking in dangerous drugs – sentencing – aggravation – number of packets – previous conviction – courier unaware of packaging – appeal against sentence – Court of Appeal – HKSAR v Chan Pui-chi – R v Lau Tak-ming – Yuen Wing-chuen – applicant aged 20 – pleaded guilty to trafficking 9.87 grammes of heroin – sentenced to 44 months – judge increased starting point to 5.5 years due to prior trafficking conviction at age 14 and large number of packets (100) – held: judge erred in treating these as aggravating factors – no evidence applicant knew about packaging – previous conviction six years earlier as juvenile did not justify enhancement – sentence reduced from 44 months to 40 months – starting point of 5 years with one-third discount for guilty plea.
Legal issues: Aggravation of sentence based on awareness of packaging
Outcome: Leave to appeal granted; appeal treated as heard and allowed; sentence reduced from 44 months to 40 months' imprisonment.
Cited by 2 cases · Cites 1 case