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HCCC425/2010
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 425 OF 2010
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Date: |
17 February 2011 at 9.38 am |
Present: |
Mr Franco Kuan, Senior Public Prosecutor (Acting), of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR
Mr Lee Yiu-chung, instructed by Messrs Ho & Ip, assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the Accused |
Offence: |
Trafficking in dangerous drugs (販運危險藥物) |
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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case
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COURT: I have to sentence you for trafficking in dangerous drugs. You will know, because you have been told and because you have previous convictions for it, that the sentencing for drug trafficking in Hong Kong is based on guidelines which are, in turn, based on the nature of the drugs and the quantity of them.
In your case, you had 97 grammes of heroin and 25 grammes of “Ice”, a total quantity of 122 grammes of drugs. If it had all been heroin, you would fall just under the midway point of the 50 to 200 grammes bracket, attracting a starting point after trial of 8 to 12 years’ imprisonment. If it had all been “Ice”, it might have been slightly higher. You would have been in the 70 to 300 grammes bracket, attracting 10 to 14 years.
The preponderance of the drugs was heroin and therefore, in working towards my starting point, I shall look at a sentence after trial of 10 years.
However, you were caught bringing these drugs into Hong Kong from the Mainland at the Lok Ma Chau Border Control Point. You had secreted the drugs in six packets which you had concealed in your rectum. It is right to point out that you do have a previous conviction for trafficking in drugs which was heard in the District Court back in 2001. Those are matters of aggravation. It is also the fact that it is a modest aggravation that two drugs and not one were involved.
I bear in mind your plea of guilty. That earns you a one-third discount. And I bear it in mind also in seeking to find a balance for the right starting point, bearing in mind the aggravation.
In my judgment, the right starting point is just over 11 years. After the one-third discount, it would give a sentence of 7 years and 6 months and that is what I judge to be the right sentence in your case.
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