Read the full judgment text of CACC 269/2009 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 4 May 2010 before Tang VP, Yeung JA and Saw J.
Criminal law – trafficking in dangerous drugs – sentencing – ketamine – ice – nimetazepam – combination of sentences for multiple drug types – 'individual approach' versus 'combined approach' – HKSAR v Ko Ka-hing [2009] 4 HKLRD 856 – sentencing guidelines for ketamine and ecstasy – Secretary for Justice v Hii Siew Cheng [2009] 1 HKLRD 1 – sentencing guidelines for ice – A.G. v Ching Kwok-hung [1991] 2 HKLR 125 – whether starting point of 18 years' imprisonment for count 2 was manifestly excessive – applicant arrested outside a building in Kwai Chung with drugs on his person; larger quantities of drugs found at his home on the 3rd floor – the 'combined approach', using the most serious drug as the starting point and adjusting upward for less serious drugs, is generally preferred because the 'individual approach' of simply adding separate starting points inflates the total – 300g of ketamine equates to roughly 60g of ice, so the combined drug quantity is equivalent to about 600g of ketamine or 120g of ice, which under the guidelines attracts a sentence of about 12 years – nimetazepam ('No. 5'/'Wong Fei Hong') to be sentenced on the same basis as ketamine or ecstasy – no evidence the drugs were actually mixed into a cocktail to enhance their potency, but the potential may be taken into account – appropriate starting point on count 2 is 13½ years, not 18 years – leave to appeal granted and, treating the hearing as the appeal, sentence on count 2 reduced from 12 years to 9 years (two-thirds of 13½ years after one-third discount for guilty plea); concurrent sentences on counts 1 and 3 retained.
Legal issues: Appropriate starting point for trafficking in mixed dangerous drugs (ketamine, ice, nimetazepam) · Method of combining sentences for multiple types of dangerous drugs
Outcome: Leave to appeal against sentence granted; appeal allowed; sentence on count 2 reduced from 12 years to 9 years' imprisonment (concurrent sentences on counts 1 and 3 remain).
Cited by 73 cases · Cites 1 case