HKSAR v. Lee Kwok Ching

DCCC 1421/2009

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 1421 OF 2009

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Reasons for Sentence

1.The defendant pleaded guilty to one charge of trafficking in 45.06 grammes of ketamine and another charge of possessing 2 tablets of propoxyphene, a Part I poison.

2.Shortly after midnight on 29 October 2009 police searched the Mongkok residence of the defendant and found 2 plastic boxes (containing drugs) and an electronic scale on his desk.

3.The drugs found inside the 2 plastic boxes were subsequently confirmed by the government chemist to be:-

(a)  in the 1^st plastic box :-

(i)  39 resealable plastic bags which held a total of 82.35 grammes of mixture containing 36.47 grammes of ketamine;

(ii)  6 plastic resealable plastic bags containing 61 tablets and 2 tablet fragments; which contained a total of 3.29 grammes of ketamine;

(iii)  2 white tablets containing propoxyphene;

(b)  in the 2^nd plastic box there were 18 packets of powder which weigh a total 11.07 grammes containing 5.3 grammes of ketamine.

4.Under caution the defendant admitted the white powder was ketamine and he intended to sell them for financial gain; the cash HK$1450 found in his room was the proceeds of his drug sale. The 2 white tables (i.e. the tablets of propoxyphene) which he was aware were prohibited drugs were left behind by his friends.

5.The appropriate sentence for trafficking in 45.06 grammes of ketamine should roughly be a term of 5 years 9 months imprisonment. (see Hii Siew Cheng [2009] 1 HKLRD 1 for reference).

6.The defendant, 21 years of age, was born in the mainland. He came to Hong Kong in 1998, studied up to F-2, and had been working as a restaurant worker. At the time of the offence he was unemployed.

7.He had previous records of possession of offensive weapon and theft in 2003. On 30 September 2009 he was arrested for possession of ketamine at a bus terminus in Shamshuipo. In December 2009 he was sentenced, on his own plea, to the detention centre in the Kowloon City Magistracy case of KC-6274/2009.

8.The sequence of events showed the defendant to re-offend just one month after his arrest for his last offence of possession of ketamine in September 2009. He engaged in his present offence whilst he was on bail for his last offence.

9.In respect of his 2^nd offence of possessing 2 tablets of a part I poison, in light of the small quantity, I was originally minded to impose a monetary fine. For his dire financial position, to impose a financial penalty would likely have brought upon greater hardship upon the defendant. In lieu of the intended fine, I adopt a term of 3 weeks imprisonment for his 2^nd charge.

10.The strongest mitigating factor is the defendant’s plea of guilty indicating his remorse. I do accord the defendant 1/3 discount and impose a term of 3 years and 10 months (2/3 of 5 years and 9 months) for his 1^st charge and a term of 2 weeks (2/3 of 3 weeks) for his 2^nd charge. Taking totality into consideration I order both terms to run concurrently. The total duration remains to be a term of 3 years and 10 months.

11.For the prison terms that the defendant is receiving in the present case, the defendant’s detention centre order would, by reference to section 7 of the Detention Centre Ordinance Cap 239, be considered to have lapsed upon the commencement of his term of imprisonment for his present offences.