CRIMINAL CASE NO. 280 OF 2010
COURT: Cheung So-wing, you have pleaded guilty in the Magistrates’ Court to two charges of trafficking in dangerous drugs, and you have been committed to this court for sentence.
I have taken into account everything that has been urged on your behalf.
The drugs under the 1st charge consist of 40.17 grammes of powder containing 28.39 grammes of ketamine. They were found on you during a street search. The drugs under the 2nd charge consist of 269.12 grammes of powder containing 193.66 grammes of ketamine. They were found in your home later that day.
For the 1st charge, I adopt a starting point of 4½ years. For the 2nd charge, I adopt a starting point of 7½ years. Your guilty pleas would earn you a one-third discount, reducing the term for the 1st charge to one of 3 years and the term for the 2nd charge to one of 5 years.
Bearing in mind the total amount of drugs involved and the principle of totality, I would have imposed an overall sentence of 5 years and 4 months upon you, being two‑thirds of an overall starting point of 8 years.
Although for offences like these, youth and clear record generally count for little or nothing, but having regard to your very particular circumstances, I am persuaded that an overall sentence of 5 years is appropriate.
To achieve that, I sentence you to 3 years’ imprisonment on the 1st charge and 5 years’ imprisonment on the 2nd charge, and I order the two sentences to run concurrently.
You will therefore go to prison for a total of 5 years.