Case Document

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DCCC 348/2013

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO 348 OF 2013

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	HKSAR
	v
	Tse Wai-cheong Eric
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Before: HH Judge Johnny Chan

Date: 14 May 2013 at 10.15 am

Present:	Mr Gary Leung, PP of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR
	Ms Chong Chew-then Gina, of Chong & Yen, for the defendant

Offence:

Trafficking in a dangerous drug (販運危險藥物)

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.The defendant, Tse Wai-cheong Eric, appears before me facing one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug. He pleads guilty to the charge and admits the facts pertaining to the charge.

2.The defendant admits that on the 20th day of February 2013 outside Ground floor, Fung Chak House, Choi Wan Estate, Phase (2), Kowloon in Hong Kong, he unlawfully trafficked in a dangerous drug, namely, 13.45 grammes of a powder containing 9.69 grammes of ketamine.

3.The facts as admitted by the defendant reveal that on 20 February 2013 a team of police officers in plainclothes conducted anti-dangerous-drug operation in the vicinity of Fung Chak House, Choi Wan Estate, Kowloon.

4.PC 5896 saw the defendant acting suspiciously outside the ground floor, Fung Chak House. The defendant was then trying to cover a wallet in his right hand with his vest.

5.The officer intercepted the defendant for enquiry. The officer found the drugs in question in the wallet held by the defendant. The defendant immediately said to the officer, “Ah Sir, give me a chance. Someone gave it to me for delivery.”

6.The defendant was then arrested for the offence of trafficking in a dangerous drug.

7.Under caution, the defendant admitted that he helped others to deliver it for money because he had recently been unemployed.

8.In the subsequent video recorded interview, the defendant admitted under caution that he agreed to deliver the ketamine for an unknown man whom he met in an Internet bar in Shek Kip Mei for a reward of $100. The $100 in his wallet was given by that man for the delivery.

9.The estimated street value of the drugs was about $1,600.

10.According to the criminal record of the defendant, he was convicted of the offence of theft in 2011 and he was put on probation for 12 months.

11.The antecedent statement of the defendant shows that he is now 29 years old. After he finished Form 3 education, he continued his education at Kowloon Bay Vocational Training Council. Between 2001 and 2011, the defendant mainly worked as a waiter at various restaurants. He had been unemployed since October 2011.

12.Ms. Chong, in mitigation, submits that the defendant has no previous drug-related conviction. She asks me to take into consideration the guilty plea of the defendant. He made frank admission to the police at the time of his arrest, thus saving some public money.

13.Ms. Chong submits that the defendant trafficked in DD for the first time. As stated in the admitted facts, he agreed to traffic for the unknown man. The role of the defendant was that of a foot-soldier and he committed the offence out of momentary greed.

14.Upon his arrest he fully co-operated with the police and made confessions. Ms. Chong submits that the ketamine in question, 9.69 grammes of ketamine, brings the defendant within the band of sentence of 2 to 4 years, according to Hii Siew Cheng [2009] 1 HKLRD 1, CAAR 7/2006 and CACC 126/2007. She asks me to adopt a lower starting point for the reason that there was no aggravating features in the present case.

15.In sentencing the defendant, I have considered the facts of this case, the nature of the drugs and the narcotic content of the ketamine involved. In the present case, the defendant trafficked in 9.69 grammes of ketamine and that brings the defendant within the band of 2 to 4 years’ imprisonment, applying the tariff in Hii Siew Cheng.

16.The only mitigating factor in this case is the guilty plea of the defendant. The defendant is not a first offender. I accept that there is no aggravating factors in this case.

17.The guilty plea of the defendant entitles the defendant to one-third reduction in sentence.

18.I take 3 years and 9 months’ imprisonment as the starting point. With the one-third discount, it would bring the sentence down to 2 years and 6 months.

19.Apart from the guilty plea, there is no other mitigating factor that can further entitle the defendant to any discount.

20.For the reasons given, for the offence of trafficking in a dangerous drug, I sentence the defendant to 2 years and 6 months’ imprisonment.