COURT: The defendant pleaded guilty to trafficking 38.85 grammes of cocaine, the 1st count, and possession of 3.23 grammes of cocaine, the 2nd count.
At about 2.15 pm on 18 October 2011, the defendant was intercepted by police officers outside Room 3421, Tsui Tung House, Tsui Ping (South) Estate, Kwun Tong. A police officer found a plastic bag of cocaine inside the left front pocket of his pants. This is the subject matter of the 2nd count. The defendant admitted that he was taking the drug to the park downstairs for his own consumption.
The police then searched the flat and found two plastic bags of cocaine inside a plastic container near a bed in the sitting room. The defendant admitted under caution that he bought three plastic bags of cocaine from “Chung Chai” in Mongkok at the price of $15,000. He lived on $1,890 CSSA per month. The defendant admitted that he trafficked the drug in the 1st count. The police estimated that the market value of the cocaine was about $45,000.
The defendant is 44 years old. He is divorced with a son living with his ex-wife. He has 13 previous convictions. He was sent to DATC in 1995 and 2000. He was imprisoned in 2005 for trafficking in a dangerous drug for about 2 years. He finished Form 3 education. He was a casual transportation worker earning about $300 per day.
He was an addict for about 20 years. He lived alone at the premises in question. The defendant explained that he would share the drug with his friends.
According to HKSAR v Lau Tak Ming ([1990] 2 HKLR370) for trafficking in 38.85 grammes of cocaine the starting point should be 7 years and 2 months’ imprisonment. I deduct 2 years and 5 months for his plea.
I sentence the defendant to 4 years and 9 months’ imprisonment for the 1st count.
For the 2nd count I take the initial starting point of 15 months’ imprisonment. The latent risk is high. I enhance the sentence by 6 months. The final starting point is 21 months’ imprisonment. I deduct 7 months for his plea.
The defendant is sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment.
Taking into account totality, I order that the sentence of both counts to run concurrently. The defendant has to serve a total of 4 years and 9 months’ imprisonment.