HKSAR v. Lo Tsz Fung

DCCC511/2011

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 511 OF 2011

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.Defendant, you pleaded guilty to a single offence of trafficking in dangerous drug, contrary to sections 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap.134. You admitted the Brief Facts and I convicted you.

2.Those facts were as follows.  At around 9 am on 21 March last, police officers in plainclothes saw you acting furtively in Yau Ma Tei Community Centre Rest Garden and observed you.  A police officer saw you enter a building at Shanghai Street.  You left the building and he intercepted you.  This was at the junction of Shanghai Street and Changsha Street.  The officer found in your left front jeans pocket a paper wrapping a transparent plastic bag containing 70 packets of substance which is E1.  

3.Under arrest and caution, you admitted that as you had no money, you delivered the white powder for $300.  In a subsequent interview under caution, you repeated this admission, saying you were employed by Ah Chi.  You gave no other details.  At the time of your arrest, you had $324 on your person.  A subsequent analysis of E1 showed it to be 11.65 grammes of a mixture containing 8.34 grammes of heroin hydrochloride.  The estimated street value is $7,980.

4.You admitted to five previous convictions on four occasions, two of which were drug-related and one was for trafficking in dangerous drugs. 

5.Mr Yeung entered limited mitigation on your behalf for in fact there was little to be said.  He told me that despite what is said in the antecedent statement, you were in fact married but you had been separated since 2007 and there were no children of the marriage.  You are a young man of 26 and you had worked for three to four years as a chef in which you had a real interest.  Your last job paid you $10,000 per month, but you have been unemployed since August of 2010.  Being in financial difficulties, you committed this offence for the $300 reward.  You realised what you had done was wrong and you asked for leniency.  

6.I turn now to the sentence.  Trafficking in heroin is a serious offence which the only proper sentence is one of immediate imprisonment for a substantial period.  The established tariff for the amount of heroin hydrochloride involved in this case, which is 8.34 grammes, is some 2 to 5 years’ imprisonment. 

7.You have five previous convictions, two of which relate to drugs.  So your record is far from distinguished.  The only mitigation I can find in this case is your co-operation with the police upon arrest, and this has been supported by your plea of guilty at the first available opportunity.  In all the circumstances, I take as a starting point 4 years and 3 months’ imprisonment.  That is 51 months.  To acknowledge your plea of guilty, this will be reduced to 34 months.  You will go to prison for that period.