CRIMINAL CASE NO. 374 OF 2011
The accused pleaded guilty before me to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap. 134.
Briefly, the accused was stopped by the police on 10 May 2011 after he, together with another male, had alighted from a taxi. At the time of interception both the accused and the male attempted to run away. The male made good his escape while the accused was subdued.
Then a search was conducted, and it was found that the drug particularised in the count - that is, 0.83 kilogramme of ketamine - was contained in the five transparent resealable plastic bags kept inside the red plastic bag the accused was holding.
The accused was arrested, and under caution he admitted trafficking in the drug in order to earn some money. The accused made similar admissions in a subsequent video‑recorded interview, adding that he would receive $1,000 for the delivery, but he was not given any payment yet.
Mitigation
The accused is aged 28 and is single. He was educated up to Form 1 level. The accused had worked as a waiter and workman.
The accused has seven previous convictions, two of which were common assault, one criminal damage, one theft, one using a false instrument, one burglary, and one unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under 16. He has been sent to the detention centre, training centre and to prison.
In mitigation it was said that the accused’s last conviction was about 10 years ago and that he has got no similar conviction. Mr Yeung told the court that the accused committed the present offence because he had no stable job and was unemployed at the time. The accused also asked for a lenient sentence as his father is suffering from poor health.
The Sentence
In SJ v Hii Siew Cheng and Another [2009] 1 HKLRD 1, the Court of Appeal laid down the tariffs for trafficking in ketamine. For trafficking 600 to 1,000 grammes of ketamine, a term of imprisonment of between 12 to 14 years is called for.
In this case, the ketamine involved was a total of 830 grammes. For this quantity, and considering the facts of this case, I am going to take a starting point of 13 years.
The accused pleaded guilty, and he will receive a one‑third reduction for that. Other than his plea, there is nothing in this case which would warrant any further reduction in sentence.
The accused is therefore to serve a term of 8 years and 8 months’ imprisonment.