HKSAR v. Yip Man Kit

DCCC 1209 /2011

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 1209 OF 2011

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REASONS FOR SENTENCE

The defendant pleaded guilty to a charge of "Trafficking in a dangerous drug". The dangerous drug involved is ketamine.

2.About 9:15 pm on 15 September 2011, DPC 5111 and DPC 52767 intercepted the defendant on the 20^th Floor of Lai Yeung House, Lei Cheng Uk Estate, Kowloon for investigation.  At that moment, the defendant took out a paper bag from his shoulder bag and threw it into the light well.  The paper bag landed on the bottom of the light well.

3.The light well was a secured area which no one could enter without a key.  Police officers at the scene have ensured that no one had entered the light well after the defendant dropped the paper bag.  PC 58756 who guarded the light well throughout confirmed that only 1 paper bag and 1 plastic chair were found on the ground of the light well.  Upon obtaining the key to the light well, the Police recovered the paper bag dropped by the defendant.  It contained 18 transparent resealable plastic bags containing suspected dangerous drugs.

4.The defendant was arrested at the scene.  Cash in the sum of HK$8,540 and a mobile phone were found on him.  Under caution, the defendant admitted that he was scared when intercepted by the police officers; he then threw away the paper bag which contained ketamine. 

5.A Government Chemist subsequently confirmed that the 18 plastic bags contained in the paper bag contained a total of 235.54 grammes of a powder containing 43.81 grammes of ketamine.

6.The defendant is now 22 years old.  He has 2 previous records involving a total of 6 offences, all of which are related to violence.  He has never been to prison before.

7.Defence counsel Ms. SO informed the court that the defendant has a rather unfortunate family.  The defendant has 2 younger brothers: one is aged 20 suffering from albinism which also affected his eye sight, therefore has difficulty seeking employment; the other is aged 3 born prematurely suspected to have impaired intelligence.  The defendant's mother has recovered from her drinking problem, but is suffering from insomnia owing to the present case, therefore needs to seek psychiatric treatment again.  The defendant's father is unable to work as a driver due to his leg problem.

8.Ms. SO submitted that until the present offence, the defendant has been supportive of and has helped looking after his 2 younger brothers.  Letters from the defendant and his family members were submitted; their contents are duly noted.

9.Ms. SO further submitted that the defendant, foolishly thinking that he could earn some easy money for his family, was lured into committing the present offence by some undesirable peers.  The defendant is now very remorseful and has determined to turn a new leaf.  His family and his girlfriend will all support him.

10.Time after time, the court has expressed in very clear terms that having a sick family member or being in financial difficulty (however serious) is no mitigating factor for committing a crime.  I cannot stress this enough.  Furthermore, a clear message must be conveyed to the general public that "drug trafficking" is a serious crime and that drug traffickers would most certainly be punished by long-term imprisonment.

11.The sentencing tariff for trafficking in ketamine is laid down in SJ v HII Siew Cheng [2009] 1 HKLRD 1.  For 10 to 50 grammes, the sentence ranges from 4 to 6 years' imprisonment.

12.A total of 43.81 grammes of ketamine are involved in this case.  Hence, I adopt a starting point of 5.5 years. One-third discount is given for the guilty plea, reducing the sentence to 44 months. Since this is the defendant's 1^st drug offence and his family circumstances do deserve some sympathy (though I have seen more tragic situations), I am prepared to give a further reduction of 2 months simply as an act of mercy.  Apart from this, I see no other mitigating factors which warrant any further discount.  The sentence I impose is therefore 42 months (3 years and 6 months).