HKSAR V.Leung Lin Sing

DCCC 967/2009

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 967 OF 2009

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Reasons for Sentence

1.The defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking in dangerous drugs, respectively 2.78 grammes of ketamine and 20.57 grammes of ketamine.

2.The defendant was stopped and searched by the police at the staircase outside his place of residence in Shamshuipo on the afternoon of 2 July 2009. Police saw him looking furtively around. Police found a plastic bag of suspected dangerous drugs inside his trousers’ pocket. When cautioned, the defendant said the packet of “K Chai” was for his own personal consumption.

3.Police conducted a subsequent search of the defendant’s residence and found an electronic scale, some empty transparent resealable plastic bags and a bag containing 4 bags of suspected ketamine inside a drawer within the premises.  When cautioned, the defendant said those bags of  “K Chai” were also for his own personal consumption.

4.The drugs were subsequently examined by the government chemist who confirmed the packet found inside the defendant’s trousers’ pocket contained a powder weighing 3.26 grammes which contained 2.78 grammes of ketamine. The 4 bags of suspected ketamine found inside the drawer of the defendant’s home weighed a total of 24.2 grammes which contained 20.57 grammes of ketamine. The electronic scale and the plastic bag containing the 4 bags of suspected ketamine found inside the drawer also contained traces of ketamine.

5.The defendant was aged 34. He came to Hong Kong from the mainland in the year of 2000. He had one previous record of possessing dangerous drugs. He worked as a casual decoration worker. In mitigation it was said on his behalf that he was unemployed in May 2009; thus he engaged in his drug trafficking activity to support his drug addiction.

6.The usual sentence for the trafficking in small quantity of dangerous drugs is a term of 2 years imprisonment.

7.The appropriate sentence for trafficking in 20.57 grammes of ketamine is a term 4 ½ years imprisonment.  (see the June 2008 decision of Hii Siew Cheng (許守城) [2009] 1 HKLRD 1).

8.I do accord the defendant 1/3 discount for his plea of guilty indicating his remorse. I reduce his terms to that of 16 months and 3 years imprisonment respectively for the two charges. Taking totality into consideration, I order 12 months of his term for the 1^st charge to be served concurrently with the term of the 2^nd charge, leaving a balance of 4 months to be served consecutively. The total duration is a period of 3 years and 4 months imprisonment for his 2 charges.