HKSAR v. Mbugua James Waigwa

HCCC7/2009

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 7 OF 2009

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Before:  DHCJ Mackintosh

Date:    21 May 2009 at 12.42 pm

Offence:  Trafficking in a dangerous drug (販運危險藥物)

Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above case

COURT:  James Waigwa Mbugua, stand up, please. 

I know that you have been advised very clearly by Mr Spicer that the sentence for trafficking in dangerous drugs is determined according to sentencing guidelines laid down by the Court of Appeal.  This is so that all cases are treated on an equal footing which is fair to all offenders.  The principal factors determining the length of sentence is the type of drug and the quantity of narcotic contained in what was being trafficked.  Here it is 610 grammes of heroin hydrochloride in the mixture that you were carrying in packets that you had swallowed. 

Sentences are severe because of the huge menace caused by the abuse of hard drugs such as heroin.  The misery that it brings and the imperative of deterring drug traffickers who profit by it, as you would have done, even on your account at least to the tune of US$4,000.  It is an aggravating factor for the court to take into account that the trafficking involves international elements, as it does in this case.  

Since the commission of your offence the guidelines have  been revisited by the Court of Appeal, not to establish new ones or to make the penalties more severe, but to set out guidelines for very large quantities and to emphasise that international trafficking is a graver offence than simply trafficking within Hong Kong.  

Mitigation for such a grave offence as you have committed is normally to be found in a plea of guilty.  Personal and family circumstances can carry no weight in the circumstances of a case like this.  A plea of guilty carries a discount of one-third on the sentence, as I know you were told.  You have chosen to plead not guilty and you have been convicted by this jury after trial.  You have no mitigation whatsoever.  

The sentence I must impose upon you is one of 21 years’ imprisonment.  I have taken a starting point of 20 years for 610 grammes in accordance with the guidelines of the Court of Appeal in the cases of Lau Tak Ming and Abdallah Anwar Abbas CACC304/2008, and I have added 1 year to that to reflect the international element to which I have referred.  There is nothing else which can have an impact on the sentence that I am bound to impose.