HKSAR v. Chan Yim

HCCC 474/2012

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 474 OF 2012

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

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COURT: The defendant has pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug in the Magistrates’ Court, and has been committed for sentence in the Court of First Instance.

The charge relates to her unlawfully trafficking in 0.51 kilograms of a powder containing 0.32 kilograms of ketamine.

There is nothing unusual in the facts admitted, in that the defendant was stopped on the street after having alighted from a taxi, and upon a search, a packet was found inside a bag that the defendant was carrying, and inside that bag were the dangerous drugs the subject matter of the charge.

Under caution, the defendant admitted that she was helping a friend deliver the drugs to somebody else for a reward of $2,500.

The drugs were subsequently analysed, and the estimated retail value of the ketamine at the time of seizure is HK$64,260.

The defendant’s background is she is aged 38. She has a clear record. She came to Hong Kong in 2005, and I am told by Mr Leung that she was married, but has divorced since 2010, and her two children are in the custody of her husband.

The plea, as Mr Leung has submitted, indicated the defendant’s remorse, and the reason for her committing this present offence is again very common in that she says that she was raising money to send to her sister in China, who is suffering from breast cancer.

Whatever the reason, it is still a very serious offence. The authorities are fighting a losing battle each day against these drugs coming for distribution in Hong Kong, where young children are led into taking drugs, and the cycle never stops. So the court has to look with a very serious eye at defendants who commit this type of crime for monetary gain.

The Court of Appeal has laid down guidelines for trafficking in ketamine in the case of Hii Siew Cheng [2009] 1 HKLRD 1, and according to the guidelines, trafficking in between 300 grammes to 600 grammes of ketamine merits a starting point sentence of 9 to 12 years’ imprisonment.

The defendant was found with 320 grammes of ketamine, and I agree with Mr Leung that that will put her into the range of 9 years’ imprisonment as a starting point.

There is not much to say on behalf of the defendant, and Mr Leung has said everything he could possibly say on her behalf. I would give therefore the full one-third discount to the defendant because of her plea at the earliest opportunity, and so the defendant will go to prison for 6 years.