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HCCC86/2011
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 86 OF 2011
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Before: |
Deputy High Court Judge Longley |
Date: |
6 May 2011 at 9.49 am |
Present: |
Mr Harish Melwaney, SPP, of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR
Mr Fu Chong-sang, instructed by Peter K H Wong & Co., assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the Accused |
Offence: |
Trafficking in a dangerous drug (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: Yu Shek-lam, you have been committed to this court for sentence following your plea of guilty in the Magistrates Court to a charge of trafficking in 175.39 grammes of a mixture containing 141.32 grammes of heroin hydrochloride. Those drugs were in two condoms which you had inserted into your anus prior to entering Hong Kong from the mainland in the late afternoon of 15 September last year.
The retail value of those drugs in Hong Kong was approximately $179,000. After your arrest, you admitted that you knew the drugs were heroin and you allege that you had been promised HK$5,000 for bringing the drugs into Hong Kong.
You are now aged 59 and have a very long criminal record going back to 1967 when you were aged 15. Fourteen of those convictions relate to dangerous drugs but what is more significant is that five of those fourteen convictions have been for offences of trafficking. You have been sentenced to substantial terms of imprisonment for trafficking offences, particularly in 1994 when you were sentenced to 9 years’ imprisonment and 2006 when you were sentenced to 4 years 8 months’ imprisonment. Despite those long sentences, you were not deterred from committing this offence.
As I am sure you are aware, the normal starting point for those who traffic in between 50 and 200 grammes of heroin is between 8 and 12 years’ imprisonment. While I bear in mind your age, I am satisfied that, in view of your history of trafficking, the protection of the public warrants a starting point at the top of the tariff band, namely, 12 years’ imprisonment.
The only significant mitigation in your case is your plea of guilty at the earliest possible opportunity and, for that, you are entitled to the usual discount of one-third.
I accordingly sentence you to 8 years’ imprisonment.
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