HKSAR v. Lau on Chun

DCCC175/2010

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 175 OF 2010

----------------------

----------------------

---------------------

Reasons for Sentence

---------------------

1.The defendant has pleaded guilty to one charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug, namely, 249.3 grammes of a powder containing 90.68 grammes of ketamine.

2.The facts are that on 21 December last year, the defendant was seen coming out of Room C, on the 1st Floor of an apartment in Shanghai Street, Mongkok, Kowloon. The police officers intercepted the defendant and brought him back to the room, and inside the room was found the ketamine, together with an electronic scale, a plastic spoon and a number of empty re‑sealable plastic bags.

3.The defendant admitted under caution he had helped people to sell the ‘K-powder’. The defendant had been the sole tenant of the room since 15 December 2009. Under caution during an interview, the defendant admitted that he would get instructions from customers as to the quantity they wanted. Then he would pack the ketamine according to the quantity the customer wanted and deliver the ketamine to the buyer. He says he was paid $300 a day.

4.The defendant is aged 20 and unfortunately has got a poor record for his young age. He has a total of 7 previous convictions but none similar. As Mr Li pointed out, he has a good family, he comes from a proper family background and the defendant admits that he was influenced by bad friends. He does not have a drug habit.

5.The only mitigation I can see in this case is that he pleaded guilty. This is a very serious offence, particularly ketamine, because it is now too readily available to young people in Hong Kong and has caused a lot of tragic circumstances for Hong Kong society.

6.The court has taken a very serious view of trafficking in ketamine and in the recent case of Hii Siew Cheung in CAAR7 of 2006 the Court of Appeal has laid down guidelines for trafficking in ketamine. It is recommended that for trafficking of between 50 to 300 grammes a sentence of 6 to 9 years’ imprisonment is recommended.

7.The defendant was trafficking in an amount of 90.68 grammes of ketamine. Therefore, I consider that an appropriate starting point would be 6½ years’ imprisonment. Because of the defendant’s plea of guilty, he gets the usual one-third discount, so the sentence is therefore discounted to 4 years and 4 months.