HKSAR v. Xu Niansheng

DCCC988/2010

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 988 OF 2010

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

Before: H H Judge Browne

Date: 20 January 2011 at 9.43 am

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

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

Reasons for Sentence

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

1.The defendant has pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking in dangerous drugs. The amount involved is 44.07 grammes of pure ketamine.

2.The facts admitted by the defendant are that, on 6 July of last year, officers were conducting an anti-dangerous drug operation at the Cheng Fai Building in Cheung Sha Wan, and they saw the defendant walking down the rear staircase of that building.  He was acting furtively.  He was stopped, and found in his possession was 17 plastic bags containing dangerous drugs the subject of the charge. 

3.He told the police that he had picked up the drugs in Mong Kok and was awaiting further delivery instructions from an unknown person.  And he was to get a reward of $1,000 for delivering the drugs.  At the time of his arrest the defendant was in possession of $845, and the value of the drugs was $5,200.

4.The criminal record of the defendant discloses that, in March of 2007, for wounding, for inflicting grievous bodily harm, he was sentenced to probation for a period of 12 months.  I am told in mitigation that the defendant is now 21 years of age - he was 20 at the time of the commission of the offence, and is single, and is living with his parents.  He was born on the mainland and came to Hong Kong in 2006, when he was 16 years of age. 

5.When he came at that age he started to study Form 1, and whilst he was in Form 2 he was having problems mixing with his peers, and that led to a fight at school, which led to the conviction in 2007. I was told that because of that conviction he thought that he had no further prospect in education.  He quit school and went to work with his father as a decoration worker.

6.His parents reside in Hong Kong.  His father is 46 and works as a construction worker.  His mother is 45 and works part-time in a restaurant.  He has a sister, 18, and she is at school.  She is studying Form 3.  I am told that his parents are very concerned about his situation and that they have come to court today to support their son.  I am told that the way in which he was introduced to ketamine was whilst at work, as some decoration workers introduced him to ketamine.  He was suffering from pressure at work and from his employer.  He was often scolded.  He found it difficult to cope and became addicted to ketamine.

7.He was asked by people he got to know in the drug trade to commit the current offence, and he did so as a way of earning some easy and quick money.  I am told that the defendant now understands the serious consequences of what he has done.  He has given up drugs.  The only mitigation, though, in this case is the fact that he has pleaded guilty.

8.The Court of Appeal have said, in respect of the offences of this kind, for trafficking in quantities of 10 to 50 grammes, the sentence should be in the 4 to 6 year band of imprisonment.  The quantity of drugs in this offence is almost at the highest end of that band. 

9.I have taken into account everything that's been said in mitigation and the age of the defendant.  I have decided that the appropriate starting point for this offence is a sentence of 5 years' imprisonment, and I reduce that by one-third to reflect his guilty plea. 

10.The defendant will, therefore, go to prison for 40 months.