HKSAR v. Cheung Kwan Chee

DCCC979/2009

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 979 OF 2009

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Reasons for Sentence

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1. The defendant pleaded guilty to a charge that on 25 July 2009 he trafficked in 9.41 grammes of ketamine and 1.99 grammes of cocaine.

2. The facts disclose that at 5.25 am on the morning on 25 July police officers saw him leaving a plaza, the Multifield Plaza, Prat Avenue, Tsim Sha Tsui.  When the defendant saw the officers, he ran back into the plaza and the officers found that suspicious and decided to intercept him.  The defendant was intercepted inside the male toilet of the plaza.

3. The dangerous drugs, the subject of the charge, were found in a bag which the defendant was carrying.  He remained silent when he was arrested. 

4. The defendant has two previous convictions.  The most recent being in March 2008 on four counts of trafficking in dangerous drugs, he was ordered to go to the drug addiction treatment centre. 

5. I am told that the defendant is 19 years of age.  His parents are in their mid-forties. I was told that in 2008 his parents were running a small café  but this was failed, and his father ran away.  The defendant lives with his mother.  He has completed Form 3 schooling and was working as a cook and a waiter earning about $8,000 per month.

6. I am told that the defendant is remorseful for his involvement in this offence and he wishes, if possible, to continue his education, either in prison or when he is released from prison. 

7. In respect of the ketamine, the appropriate starting point for possession of 9.41 grammes of ketamine is about 4 years’ imprisonment.  In respect of the cocaine, the sentence and tariff would have been in the region of 2 to 5 years for up to 10 grammes. 

8. Having considered all the factors that have been placed before me including the age of the defendant and the mitigation that has been entered, I decide that an appropriate starting point in this case should be 4 years’ imprisonment which I will reduce by one-third to reflect the guilty plea.  The defendant will go to prison for 32 months.