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HCCC240/2008
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 240 OF 2008
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HKSAR |
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v. |
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Rehan Mariam Abdalla |
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Before:
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Deputy High Court Judge Line
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Date:
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5 February 2009 at 3.01 pm
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Present:
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Ms Peggy Lo, Senior Public Prosecutor of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR
Mr Graeme Alexander Mackay, instructed by Messrs Krishnan & Tsang, assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the Accused
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Offence:
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Trafficking in a dangerous drug (販運危險藥物)
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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above case
COURT: Stand up, please. I have to sentence you for trafficking in a dangerous drug.
The drug in question was heroin. You had very nearly a kilogram of it. The exact amount is 981.73 grammes. You would have been told before this trial that the sentence in cases like this depends upon guidelines and that you fall in a bracket that has to be in excess of 20 years. The starting-point I shall take in your case is one of 21 years but I am bound to enhance that to reflect the element of bringing the drugs across an international border, and I do so by taking the starting-point figure up to one of 22½ years' imprisonment.
You are a mature lady. You knew the risks you faced when you did this and you cannot have been blind to the misery that drug addiction causes.
It is a long sentence but pause and consider this, that I have no doubt these drugs were destined for the Mainland, and if you had been caught with them there or if you had been caught on the way, in Malaysia, you would not have faced imprisonment; you would have faced the death penalty.
The sentence is one of 22½ years' imprisonment.
Appeal dismissed: see CACC48/2009 dated 28 October 2009
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