HKSAR v. Salim Mrisho Hussein
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HCCC345/2009 IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE CRIMINAL CASE NO. 345 OF 2009 ----------------------
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----------------------------------------- Transcript of the Audio Recording ----------------------------------------- COURT: Mrisho Hussein Salim, you have been committed to this court for sentence following your plea of guilty in the Magistrates' Court to a charge of trafficking in 1082.37 grammes of a mixture containing 649.71 grammes of heroin hydrochloride and 132.59 grammes of monoacetylmorphine hydrochloride. Those drugs were in 85 pellets which had been swallowed by you and were still inside your body when you arrived at the airport on a flight from Bangkok on 3 April this year. Their retail value in Hong Kong at the time was just over HK$500,000 but you claimed that these drugs were not destined for Hong Kong and that after arriving in Hong Kong you intended to travel to the Mainland. It was there that you would deliver the drugs in return for a reward of US$4,000. You claim to have received the drugs in Bangkok. I have borne in mind all that has been said by Mr Spicer on your behalf. I have also borne in mind the medical report from the Lai Chi Kok reception centre that I have been given. Although your underlying health is not good, fortunately your conditions are susceptible to treatment. I have borne in mind the letter that you have sent to the court and the circumstances that you say led you to commit this offence. You are a man of previous good character. Despite all this, you cannot have failed to realise that very serious consequences would follow if you were caught with these drugs. Nevertheless, you decided to take the risk to bring them into Hong Kong, presumably because of the financial rewards it would bring you. As I know you are aware, because I can see from your letter that you have referred to it, drug trafficking is an evil offence. It destroys the lives and health of those who ultimately receive the drugs. It is an offence which is viewed very seriously by courts in Hong Kong. As you will have been told by your counsel, the Court of Appeal has stated that those who traffic in between 600 and 1200 grammes can expect to receive sentences of between 20 and 23 years' imprisonment after trial. Those who bring drugs into Hong Kong can expect higher sentences. I am prepared to accept that your role was simply as a courier of these drugs and that you had been recruited by others more sophisticated and more deeply involved in this business. In view of these circumstances and the other circumstances, I am adopting a starting point at the bottom of the tariff band to which I have referred, which I increase by 1 year to reflect the fact that you were bringing the drugs into Hong Kong. The overall starting point that I am adopting is, therefore, one of 21 years' imprisonment. The substantial mitigation in this case is your plea of guilty which indicates your remorse. To reflect that plea you are entitled to the usual discount of one-third. I accordingly pass a sentence of 14 years' imprisonment. |