HKSAR v. Ka Kong Tin

Case No.DCCC 637/2010

Court

District Court

Date19 Jul 2010

Judge—

Case Document

100%

DCCC637/2010

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 637 OF 2010

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	HKSAR
	v.
	Ka Kong-tin (D1)

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Before:

H H Judge Toh

Date:

19 July 2010 at 11.39 am

Present:

Mr Bobby Cheung, PP of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR
Mr Li Wai-ip, Philip, of Philip W I Li & Co., assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the Defendant

Offence:

Trafficking in a dangerous drug (販運危險藥物)

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.The Defendant has pleaded guilty to trafficking in a dangerous drug, namely, 20.06 grammes of a mixture containing 14.48 grammes of heroin hydrochloride.

2.The all too familiar facts show that the defendant was stopped on 2 April this year at 6 am, and on a search, inside his right pocket of his jacket was found a tissue containing a resealable plastic bag containing 102 small packets of substance. Under caution, the defendant said that he was helping someone to deliver the white powder for a reward of $300. The substance was subsequently found to be heroin hydrochloride with an estimated street value of about $13,380.

3.The defendant is aged 56 and has 40 previous convictions, 7 of which were for possession of dangerous drugs. He was last released in January this year, and three months later, he was arrested for this offence. The defendant is married and has a child of 4, and his family is in China.

4.The only mitigating factor in this case is the fact that he has pleaded guilty. That is showing that he is remorseful. In his mitigation letter, he claims that he was used by friends. That is not entirely correct. The defendant committed this offence, knowing that he was carrying dangerous drugs, and he being such an experienced person in a court of law would know that if arrested, he would be convicted and sent to prison.

5.Now, the amount of drugs in this case, under the guidelines laid down in Lau Tak Ming in 1990, for trafficking of between 10 to 50 grammes of heroin hydrochloride would merit a sentence of between 5 to 8 years’ imprisonment.

6.In this case, the defendant was trafficking in 14.48 grammes. I consider that the appropriate starting point would be one of 63 months, reducing it by one-third because of the defendant’s plea, he is therefore sentenced to 42 months’ imprisonment.

	HH Judge Toh
	District Judge