COURT: The defendant pleads guilty to one charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap. 134.
He was intercepted by police officers while sitting at the driver’s seat in a private car. A search of the car revealed a total of four bags of “Ice”, which is the subject matter of the current charge, inside different compartments in the car.
Upon analysis, the drugs were found to be 95.68 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 90.56 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride with a retail value of around $73,000.
The defendant now admits that he was trafficking in those drugs.
The defendant has 20 items of previous criminal record, one similar back in 1989, for which he was sentenced to 4½ years’ imprisonment. His last conviction was back in 2008 for possession of dangerous drugs. He was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment.
By way of mitigation, I am told that the defendant is a long‑term drug abuser. At the time of his arrest, he was a driver earning around $10,000 a month, and his wife died in a traffic accident back in 2007. He has an aged mother in bad health which he is highly concerned about. It was also said that he is driven by his own addiction, and committed the present offence because his own supplier asked him to transport the drugs for him.
Counsel, on his behalf, asked me to be as lenient as possible in sentencing.
In sentencing the defendant, I have considered his guilty plea, although at a retrial. I have also perused a mitigation letter written by his sister, mitigation forwarded by counsel, and the existing tariff for trafficking in “Ice”, which is, for “Ice” weighing between 70 to 300 grammes, the starting point should be between 10 to 14 years.
The present case is concerned with narcotics of 90.56 grammes of “Ice”. I adopt a starting point of 10 years and 4 months. The defendant pleads guilty at a retrial. I shall give him a quarter discount.
He is sentenced to 93 months, which is 7 years and 9 months.