HKSAR v. Lai Ka Ming

DCCC935/2011

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 935 OF 2011

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.The defendant has pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking in dangerous drugs. The drugs concerned were dissolved in a liquid. She was found in possession of 101 bottles containing 2.21 litres of a suspension containing 2.94 grammes of methamphetamine, 1.88 grammes of nimetazepam, 0.8 grammes of 4-ethy1-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine, and traces of other drugs.

2.At 12.15 am on 19 May, the defendant was spotted by police officers in plainclothes who were conducting an anti-dangerous drug operation at Lok Ma Chau Border Crossing Control Point.  The defendant was carrying a purple handbag on her left shoulder and was looking about her nervously.

3.She caught a bus to the San Tin Terminus and was intercepted after arriving there.  She was searched and the 101 small glass bottles were found in her purple handbag.  She initially claimed that they were cosmetics given to her by an unknown male.  However, she later said that she had been approached outside the Methadone Centre in Sham Shui Po by a man called “I.I.” to assist him to bring some bottles of medicine from Shenzhen into Hong Kong for a reward of $3 per bottle.  She met an unknown man in a hotel in Shenzhen and he gave her the drugs. 

4.I am told that the retail price for 2.94 grammes of methamphetamine is just over $2,000 in solid form.

5.The defendant has a conviction in 1994 for possession of dangerous drugs, for which she was dealt with by way of a fine.

6.I am told that she is aged 41, born in Hong Kong and educated to Form 3 level.  She has previously worked as a garment worker and as a waitress but was unemployed since April of this year.     

7.I am told that she lives with her sister at a flat in Kwai Chung and her sister and brother have turned up at court today to give her support.      

8.I am told that in the past the defendant did have a significant drug problem and was receiving treatment at the Methadone Clinic for that problem, and it was whilst there she was approached by this man who asked her to bring in the substances from the Mainland.      

9.I am told that she was unaware of the true nature of the liquid and thought she was brining in prohibited medicine.      

10.I have been told that while she has been in Tai Lam she has been recovering from her drug problem and that has been a painful experience for her.    

11.I am told also that her mother suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.

12.The drugs which the defendant trafficked in were essentially a cocktail of drugs, principally “Ice”, and given the quantity of drugs and the fact that it was dissolved in 2.21 litres of a liquid, clearly the potency of each of the bottles was not very significant.  I accept the submission made by defence counsel that this was not a sophisticated offence, it was rather a crude importation of these drugs.  

13.The Court of Appeal have said that the appropriate sentence for trafficking in up to 10 grammes of “Ice” is a sentence of 3 to 7 years.  The main drug in this case is 2.94 grammes of methamphetamine.

14.Having heard the circumstances in which the offence was committed and having listened to the background of the defendant, what I propose to do is to take a starting point of 3 years’ imprisonment for this offence, and I reduce that to 2 years to reflect the defendant’s guilty plea.