HKSAR v. Yeung Wing Hang

HCCC 41/2013

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 41 OF 2013

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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case

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COURT: Defendant, you have pleaded guilty before a Magistrate to one charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug and were committed for sentence in the Court of First Instance. Today you confirmed before me your guilty plea, and stand convicted of the charge.

In sentencing, I have considered the whole circumstances of the case, including its nature and facts, in particular the type and quantity of the dangerous drug involved, your background, and mitigation put forward on your behalf.

The facts of the case may be summarised as follows. On 13 August 2012, you alighted from a taxi outside Olympian City 2, Tai Kok Tsui. When police officers approached you, you turned around and ran. In the course, you threw onto the ground the red plastic bag you had been holding. The plastic bag was later confirmed to be containing a total of 1.496 kilograms of a powder containing 1.102 kilograms of ketamine.

After you had been arrested, under caution, you said, “Ah Sir, my mother is sick and does not have money to receive treatment, so I dragged those ‘K Chai’ to Olympian City to someone so as to make some money only.”

In a subsequent video-recorded interview, you said, under caution, that you were delivering ketamine for a person called “Ah Hui”. Upon receiving a telephone instruction, you collected the red plastic bag from a flowerbed in Kwun Tong. You then went to Olympian City to wait for someone to collect the drug. You were promised a monetary reward of $500, and you had not yet received the reward.

I was told that you are now 23 years of age. After you had completed Form 4 education, you started to work. You have worked as a vehicle attendant, a glazier, a casual worker, a site supervisor, and also a stage setting worker on casual basis.

You are not a first-time offender. You were convicted in 2009 for one offence of possession of dangerous drug, and a probation order was imposed on you. In 2011 you were convicted of the same offence, and a 2-month suspended sentence was imposed. You did not treasure the chance given to you, and committed an offence in breach of a suspended sentence, and for a much more serious offence of trafficking in a dangerous drug.

Your counsel urged me to take into account that you are now fully remorseful. You committed the offence mainly to earn money for your living and your mother. You started consuming ketamine from 2008 and had to spend about $100 a week on this. Your mother is suffering from long-term stomach disease and has been receiving treatment.

The dangerous drug you trafficked in was ketamine. The total narcotic content was 1.102 kilograms. The Court of Appeal suggested in the case SJ v Hii Siew Cheng [2009] 1 HKLRD 1 that a sentence of more than 14 years’ imprisonment should be considered for trafficking in ketamine, if the narcotic content exceeds 1,000 grammes.

In all the circumstances, I do not find there are good grounds to depart from the tariff. I bear in mind the risk of injustice that might be caused by a mathematical progression in deciding the level of sentence.

In all the circumstances, in my judgment, a starting point of 14½ years is appropriate and sufficient. You are entitled to a one-third discount for your guilty plea. In committing the present offence, you breached the suspended sentence imposed on you in November 2011. The offence was committed about nine months after the suspended sentence had been imposed. Both offences are related to dangerous drugs. I see no reason why the suspended sentence should not be activated.

By reason of the matters aforesaid, defendant, please stand up. I sentence you to imprisonment for 9 years and 7 months for the present offence. I also activate the 2‑month suspended sentence. The two sentences are to run consecutively.

You are to serve a total sentence of 9 years and 9 months.