COURT: The defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking in a dangerous drug (Counts 1 and 2), and one count of manufacturing a dangerous drug (Count 3).
In relation to Count 1, at about 1.25 am on 18 March 2012 at i-One Cyber Café, Yiu Wing Street, the defendant offered to sell a packet of cocaine to an undercover police officer for $500. As instructed by the defendant, the officer later obtained the packet from another person. It contained 0.2 grammes of cocaine. The officer identified the defendant during an ID parade held on 19 April 2012.
In relation to Counts 2 and 3, a police team arrested the defendant on 17 April 2012 in Kwai Chung area. They took the defendant back to his room at Flat 2, 1st Floor, Man Shing Building, No. 45 Kong Fai Circuit, Kwai Chung. The police found the following items inside the room: 40 packets of cocaine containing 8.84 grammes of cocaine; 58.29 grammes of sodium bicarbonate; piles of resealable plastic bags; electronic scales; a hammer; a mug; a spoon; an air-conditioner filter; a wok; and a stove. Most of these items contained traces of cocaine.
The Government Chemist opined that the circumstances in the room suggested that cocaine base was made there. He further estimated that 58.29 grammes of sodium bicarbonate could generate 52 grammes of cocaine base.
The defendant’s fingerprint was found on a metal drawer inside the room. Under caution, the defendant admitted that those items were his. The retail value of the cocaine was about $12,000.
The defendant is 22 years old. He has one previous conviction. He studied up to Form 3. He was unemployed at the time of the offence and worked casually, earning $500 per day. He was induced by Ah Wai to sell and manufacture cocaine to earn quick money. He was paid $1,000 each time for manufacturing cocaine. He had manufactured cocaine twice before this offence.
The defendant indicates that he is remorseful. He would take up a cooking course in prison to prepare himself to be a chef.
For trafficking in cocaine the tariff case of Lau Tak Ming ([1990] 2 HKLR 370) is applicable.
For the 1st count, I take the starting point of 2 years’ imprisonment. I deduct 8 months for his plea. I sentence him to 1 year and 4 months’ imprisonment.
For the 2nd count, I take the starting point of 4 years and 8 months’ imprisonment. I deduct 1 year and 7 months for the plea. I sentence the defendant to 3 years and 1 month imprisonment.
For the 3rd count, I have considered various authorities, including HKSAR v Wong Ping Kay ([2002] 3 HKLR 161) and HKSAR v Ip Yuet Ho (CACC455/2007).
Manufacturing of a dangerous drug is a more serious offence than trafficking. Apart from the quantity of cocaine, I have to consider the scale of the manufacturing plot and other circumstances of the case. There were about 8.84 grammes of cocaine found in the room, there were a large number of resealable plastic bags and various items. There were also 58 grammes of sodium bicarbonate. I assess that the scale of manufacturing was a small one.
In HKSAR v Ip Yuet Ho the Court of Appeal agreed that 13 years’ starting point for a manufacturing charge involving 50 grammes of cocaine and 3 grammes of “Ice” was appropriate.
In HKSAR v Wong Ping Kay 15 grammes of heroin were found in that case. The Court of Appeal considered a sentence in the region of 10 years’ imprisonment appropriate for small scale manufacturing of heroin.
I take 10 years as the starting point for the 3rd count. I deduct 3 years and 4 months for the plea. I sentence the defendant to 6 years and 8 months for the 3rd count.
Taking into account the totality principle I order 6 months of the sentence of the 1st count to run consecutive to the sentence of the 3rd count. I also order that the sentence of the 2nd count to run concurrently to that of the 3rd count.
The defendant is sentenced to a total of 7 years and 2 months’ imprisonment.