CRIMINAL CASE NO. 4 OF 2010
COURT: This defendant pleaded guilty at committal on 31 December 2009 to one charge of trafficking in dangerous drugs.
The dangerous drug was 259.97 grammes of a powder containing 175.03 grammes of ketamine.
Today, before me, the defendant confirmed that plea of guilty, and also confirmed the facts that he had admitted at committal.
Those facts show that police were conducting an anti‑dangerous drugs operation at Wong Tai Sin MTR Station. The defendant was seen holding a paper bag and looking around him on the station concourse, so police followed him when he left the station. They stopped the defendant outside the exit and asked to search him. The defendant attempted to flee, but was stopped by police, and after a struggle, he was subdued, and the paper bag was searched. 10 packets of suspected dangerous drug were found in the bag.
Under caution, the defendant told the police that because he had no money, he intended to sell the “K chai” to others. In a subsequent cautioned interview, he said he had been instructed by a man called “Ah Wah” to collect the packets of ketamine from Quarry Bay MTR Station and take them to Wong Tai Sin Station, where a buyer would call him and pay $8,000 for the drugs. “Ah Wah” would then pay him $1,000 as a reward.
The defendant has previous convictions. In August 2008 he was convicted on two counts of Possession of infringing Copies of Copyright Works. He was placed on probation for 12 months on each charge and ordered to pay $500 costs for each charge. On 23 July 2009 he was convicted of one charge of Possession of Dangerous Drugs. A DATC order was made, and he was released from Hei Ling Chau on 23 December 2009. The brief facts showed that the drug involved in that case was ketamine, and he committed that offence while he was on bail for this present offence.
The defendant was 20 years old at the time of this offence. His parents divorced when he was about 12 years old. His mother is a housewife, and his younger brother is a student at a vocational training school. The father lived apart and did not contribute to the family, so the family was on CSSA. When the accused began working at the age of about 17 as a kitchen apprentice, he contributed to the family. At 18 years he began working as a cook, earning about $9,000 a month. In 2008, he changed to work in a restaurant and was earning $10,000 a month, according to his counsel. However, when his employer learned about the possession charge, he was dismissed.
Two letters have been produced from the defendant and the defendant's mother. The defendant expresses his remorse and is sorry for the trouble he has brought to his mother. He seeks leniency. His mother says that she believes her son is remorseful for this offence, and she too seeks leniency in terms of sentence.
The only mitigating factor in this case is the defendant's plea of guilty, for which he is entitled to a full one‑third discount.
I take a starting point of 7 years in this case, bearing in mind the ketamine guidelines of 6 to 9 years' imprisonment for this quantity of narcotic, and with one-third discount, that comes to 4 years and 8 months, which is the sentence I impose on the defendant.