HKSAR v. Leung Kai Pui

DCCC860/2010

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 860 OF 2010

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.The defendant pleaded guilty to a charge of "Trafficking in a dangerous drug". The dangerous drug involved is cocaine.

2.About 12:40 am on 16 June 2010, PC 34931 stopped a taxi outside New East Ocean Centre, No.9 Science Museum Road for inspection. The defendant and another male were found sitting in the back row. PC 58224 searched the taxi and found 3 transparent plastic bags (E1 to E3) containing numerous small packets of suspected dangerous drugs underneath the carpet of the defendant's seat. The defendant was arrested.

3.Under caution, the defendant admitted that he was helping a male named "Ah Shing" to deliver the cocaine to Harbour Crystal Plaza for a reward of $300. Initially, he had placed E1 to E3 in his pockets. Upon reaching Harbour Crystal Plaza and seeing a police vehicle behind, he hid E1 to E3 underneath the carpet of his seat in the taxi.

4.A Government Chemist subsequently confirmed that E1 to E3 contained a total of 28 plastic bags containing a total of 8.00 grammes of a solid containing 6.61 grammes of cocaine.

5.The defendant is now 17 years old and has a clear record. Ms. LEUNG submitted that the defendant is a responsible person who works hard to support himself. He started working immediately after completion of F.5. Prior to his arrest, he was a delivery worker earning about $6,000 per month and contributed $2,000 to his family each month. Ms. LEUNG further submitted that the defendant was ignorant and greedy; he wanted to earn some quick money so he committed the present offence. He is now remorseful and understands that he was wrong. The contents of the 3 mitigation letters are noted.

6.Based on section 109A(1A) of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance (Cap.221) and owing to the seriousness of this case, I took the view that despite his age, it is unnecessary to obtain any pre-sentencing reports for the defendant. The only available sentencing option in this case is immediate imprisonment.

7.A clear message must be conveyed to the general public that "drug trafficking" is a serious crime and that drug traffickers would most certainly be punished by long-term imprisonment. The sentencing tariff for trafficking in cocaine is the same as heroin (see Attorney General v Pedro Nel Rojas [1994] 2 HKCLR 69 and The Queen v LAU Tak-ming & others [1990] 2 HKLR 370). For up to 10 grammes, the sentence ranges from 2 to 5 years.

8.A total of 6.61 grammes of cocaine are involved in this case. Hence, I adopt a starting point of 4 years. One-third discount is given for the guilty plea, reducing the sentence to 32 months. I will further reduce the sentence by 2 months to reflect the defendant's young age and clear record. Apart from this, I see no other mitigating factors which warrant any further discount. The sentence I impose is 2 years and 6 months.