CRIMINAL CASE NO. 335 OF 2011
COURT: Wong Kei, you have been committed to this court for sentence following your plea of guilty in the Magistrates’ Court to trafficking in 0.43 kilograms of a powder containing 0.28 kilograms of ketamine.
On the evening of 26 May this year, you were seen by police officers outside a male toilet and changing room in the vicinity of the Siu Sai Wan Promenade. You were stopped and searched by the police, and the drugs, which had a street value of more than HK$48,000, were found tucked into the rear waistband of your underpants. In the pocket of your shorts the police found a scale and a number of plastic bags.
At the time of your arrest, you claimed that the drugs were for your own consumption, but since appearing in court, you have accepted that you were in possession of those drugs for the purpose of trafficking in them.
Your counsel, Mr Chan, has explained to me how it came about that you became involved in this trafficking. You had been persuaded to do this by somebody you met in an amusement games centre. You had just collected the drugs that were found on you and were waiting for buyers, who would telephone you, and you would receive a reward of $500 for each ounce of the drugs that you sold.
I have heard about your early career working in two restaurants. It is tragic that after such a promising start to your career, you should have become involved in an offence as serious as this. However, you were 21 at the time, and would have been well aware that very serious consequences would follow if you were caught trafficking in drugs.
Mr Chan, I am sure, will have told you that the normal starting point for those who traffic in between 50 grammes and 300 grammes of ketamine is between 6 and 9 years’ imprisonment. In your case, 280 grammes were involved.
Bearing in mind your age and the fact that you have never been involved with drugs before, or indeed with any other criminal activity, I am prepared to adopt a starting point of 8 years’ imprisonment.
I have taken into account all that Mr Chan has said on your behalf and the letters that have been translated to me from you and your grandmother. However, in offences as serious as this, personal circumstances carry little weight. The only substantial mitigation in your case is your plea of guilty which you entered at the earliest opportunity. For that reason, I am prepared to give you the usual discount of one‑third to reflect that plea.
The sentence that I pass is one of 64 months’ imprisonment. That is 5 years 4 months.