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HCCC116/2009
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 116 OF 2009
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Before:
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Deputy High Court Judge Mackintosh
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Date:
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24 August 2009 at 9.44 am
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Present:
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Mr P J Power, SPP, of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR
Mr Wong Ting-kwong, Peter, instructed by Messrs Christine M Koo & Ip, 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
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COURT: You fall to be sentenced now for this offence of trafficking in a dangerous drug, the dangerous drug in question being methamphetamine hydrochloride, which was in your possession and which you were trafficking on 13 October 2008.
You were intercepted whilst in a taxi, transporting the drugs in question. There was just over 27 grammes in all of the mixture containing a little over 25 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride. You immediately admitted that you were transporting that for a payment of $3,000 which you said had been promised to you by someone else for delivering the drug.
As you know, sentence for drug trafficking is based on guidelines laid down by the Court of Appeal. They are designed to ensure that all offenders are dealt with on the same basis. The guidelines for trafficking in “Ice” were laid down in 1991.
The quantity which you were trafficking falls into the bracket of 10 to 70 grammes for which 7 to 10 years’ imprisonment is prescribed as the sentence before discounts for mitigation. These sentences are designed to deter drug trafficking which leads to the misery of addiction, something which you and your family know only too well.
In my judgment, the proper starting point in your case, before discounting the sentence, that is, for the mitigation available to you, is one of 8 years’ imprisonment.
I recognise that you have three young children who will be without their mother for a prolonged period, but there is no proper basis for me taking a lower starting point than that. However, there is a proper basis for me discounting that sentence by one-third to reflect your plea of guilty and your co-operation and the mitigation available to you.
That means that the sentence that I must impose upon you is one of 5 years and 4 months’ imprisonment.
Defendant's application for leave to appeal sentence to Court of Appeal dismissed. Please refer to CACC285/2009 dated 11 June 2010
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