HKSAR v. Wong Yiu Fai

DCCC606/2012

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 606 OF 2012

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.Defendant, you pleaded guilty to one offence of trafficking in dangerous drugs, contrary to sections 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap.134.

2.You admitted the facts and I convicted you.

3.The facts are as follows.

4.At about 9.25 am on 13 April last, PC 53208 (PW1) intercepted you at the junction of Yee Kuk Street and Kweilin Street, Sham Shui Po.

5.A search revealed a plastic bag containing 100 packets of suspected dangerous drugs (E1) from the right front pocket of your trousers.

6.You admitted this was heroin, which you were delivering for $500.

7.You were arrested and cautioned by PW1.  You went on to repeat the admission, adding it was to be delivered to McDonald’s restaurant.

8.In a subsequent video recorded interview, you made the following admissions:

(1) you met an unknown person at a methadone clinic on 12 April of this year. That person asked you to deliver the dangerous drugs for $500;

(2) on the next day, 13 April, you collected the dangerous drugs from an exit of Sham Shui Po MTR station. You were to deliver them to the toilet of McDonald’s at Lai Chi Kok Road that same day;

(3) you were arrested on your way home prior to delivering those drugs.

9.Subsequent analysis of E1 showed it to contain 15.65 grammes of a mixture containing 12.62 grammes of heroin hydrochloride.

10.You possessed E1 for trafficking.

11.At the time of arrest, you had in your possession $983 and RMB200.

12.The estimated street value of the drugs in question is $11,800 approximately.

13.You admitted to 25 previous convictions on 20 occasions, three of which involved dangerous drugs.

14.On your behalf, Mr Tsu entered mitigation.

15.He told me the antecedent statement was correct, except that you were born in the PRC, not in Hong Kong.

16.You are 62 years of age and you came to Hong Kong in 1972.  You are educated to Primary 3.  You are married, your wife resides in China and you live alone in Hong Kong.  You are unemployed and in receipt of public assistance of $3,000 per month.

17.Mr Tsung acknowledged the usual tariff for trafficking in dangerous drugs of this amount being 5 to 8 years, and that is for 10 to 50 grammes of heroin.

18.However, on your behalf, he asked me not to use this tariff and to give a somewhat more lenient sentence.

19.The special circumstances, he pointed out, are:

(1) first of all, the small reward you were to receive;

(2) your age being 62;

(3) the minor role you played in the drug trafficking;

(4) the co-operation with the police at the scene;

(5) and that you yourself are a victim of drug trafficking to the extent that you are yourself an addict.

20.On your behalf, he expressed your remorse.

21.He also made the point that you are unlikely to re-offend, because at 62 years of age, after your period of imprisonment, you will be somewhat more advanced in age.

22.I turn now to the sentence.

23.I do fully accept that you had received little reward for your acts, a mere $500; that you were fully co-operative with the police on arrest, making admissions.

24.I also accept that, from your record, your history of drug involvement is modest; that you were 62 years of age; and I accept also that you are unlikely to re-offend on release.

25.However, whilst your role was minor, it was still an essential step in the course of drug-dealing.

26.It is stating the obvious, but couriers are needed to get the dangerous drugs to those who are to go out on the streets to effect the sale.

27.Taking all matters into account, I cannot find any grounds to depart from the usual tariff.  To do so would be to encourage this type of criminal behaviour.

28.However, given the mitigation advanced and also the amount of drugs involved, I do place it at the very bottom of the tariff.

29.I take as a starting point 5 years’ imprisonment (that is, 60 months) reduced to 40 months (that is, 3 years and 4 months) for your plea of guilty.

30.You will, therefore, go to prison for 40 months.