CRIMINAL CASE NO. 159 OF 2011
COURT: The defendant pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug. There were 2.49 kilograms of ketamine.
At about 3 pm on 15 February 2011, the defendant was intercepted by a team of police officers near the reception counter at Level C, Olympian City, Phase 2, at No. 18 Hoi Ting Road, Mong Kok. The police found 17 resealable plastic bags containing ketamine in his rucksack.
The defendant admitted that he delivered the ketamine for a person called “Na Ja”. He was promised a reward of $8,000. He retrieved the ketamine from the toilet on the ground floor of Olympian City Phase 2 shortly before the arrest.
The police estimated that the retail value of the ketamine was about $500,000.
The defendant is 21 years old. He received education up to Form 1. His parents are divorced. He lives with his father and two younger brothers. He has four previous convictions. In year 2007 he was put on probation for 18 months for possession of a dangerous drug. He was also sentenced to detention centre and reform school in year 2005 for other offences.
He was a part-time waiter earning about $7,000 per month. He was unemployed since year 2010. He was addicted to ketamine from the age of 16.
The defendant explained that at the time of the offence his girlfriend was pregnant and he was in need of money. He was promised a reward, but had not received anything yet.
For trafficking in 2.49 kilograms of ketamine, the sentence exceeds the tariff set out in Secretary for Justice v Hii Siew Cheng [2009] 1 HKLRD 1. In that case, for trafficking over 1 kilogram of ketamine, the starting point should be over 14 years.
For trafficking in large quantities of ketamine I have considered HKSAR v Leung Wai Man CACC24/2007. The Court of Appeal stressed that a sentencing court should avoid using arithmetic progression in sentencing. Instead, the court should exercise its discretion according to the circumstances of the case.
In Leung Wai Man, the Court of Appeal held that a starting point of 27 years would be appropriate for trafficking in about 167 kilograms of ketamine.
Having considered the circumstances of this case, I take a starting point of 18 years’ imprisonment. I deduct 6 years for his plea.
I sentence the defendant to 12 years’ imprisonment.