HKSAR v. Wan Wai Ching

DCCC 118/2012

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 118 OF 2012

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Reasons for Sentence

1.The defendant has pleaded guilty to an offence of trafficking in 5.29 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 5.17 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, namely ice, contrary to sections 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap. 134.

2.Facts admitted by the defendant disclose that at 10.25 a.m. on 25 November, 2011, police officers conducting an anti-narcotics operation raided premises at the rear block, 2^nd floor, No. 77 King Fuk Street, San Po Kong. The defendant was inside the premises. Using a key found from the defendant, a drawer in a cabinet in the bedroom was unlocked. Inside a plastic jewellery box found inside the locked drawer, police officers found the dangerous drugs the subject matter of the charge as well as an electronic scale, 243 empty transparent re-sealable plastic bags, 4 plastic tubes and 2 wooden bars. The defendant was arrested.  She admitted under caution that the drugs found were all hers and she intended to sell them to others for money.  In a subsequent video-recorded interview under caution, she admitted that she had purchased the ice and kept it in a locked drawer in the premises after repacking them for resale. She trafficked in dangerous drugs because she was in need of money. The estimated street value of the drugs at that time was HK$3,274.51.

3.The tariff for trafficking in “ice” was laid down in AG v Ching Kwok Hung [1991] 2 HKLR 125 and corrected in HKSAR v Capitania CACC 28/2004 (unreported). For trafficking up to 10 grammes of “ice”, a term of imprisonment of between 3 to 7 years is called for.

4.The defendant is now aged 26 years.  She has a clear record. She is single and lived at the premises where the dangerous drugs were found. She worked as a hairdresser after leaving school when she had completed Form 1, and worked as such until about 2009, when she earned about HK$6,000 a month.  She was unemployed at the time of the offence. Counsel submitted that the defendant gave birth to a daughter in 2010, a child she had with her former boyfriend of 5 years.  The young child died in March 2011 of accidental suffocation whilst sleeping with the defendant in her bed.  The defendant was desolate at the loss of her daughter.  Her boyfriend left her and she was in grave financial difficulties – Counsel submitted that she did not even have the money for her daughter’s burial.  It was in those circumstances – because of financial need – that she committed the present offence.  She has since found a new boyfriend – I am told that she is now pregnant and due to give birth in about 4 months.  Counsel has submitted mitigation letters written by the defendant herself, her mother and a District Councillor from Tuen Mun, wherein leniency is sought on behalf of the defendant, and I have considered the contents therein, as well as all that has been urged upon me in mitigation by Counsel.  The defendant’s mother and other family members are also in Court to show their support for the defendant.  Counsel for the defendant submitted that as the street value of the drugs in question was small i.e. HK$3,274.51, the amount that the defendant could earn from the sale would be small.

5.The sentence follows the quantity of drugs.  That would put the quantity in the defendant’s possession for trafficking at the material time to be 5.17 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, namely ice. This would warrant a starting point of 5 years imprisonment.

6.Giving the defendant full credit for her plea, which in my view is the only mitigation of weight before me, the defendant is sentenced to 3 years and 4 months’ imprisonment.